Coking coal: Trading
From Japanese annual deals to quarterly index pricing
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.For decades coking coal was priced in annual contracts between Australian miners and Japanese steel mills. Around 2010 the industry moved to quarterly and then index pricing, based on assessments by Platts, Argus and others for premium hard coking coal free on board in Australia. SGX and CME list cash-settled futures on these indices. China's Dalian Commodity Exchange trades physically delivered coking coal and coke futures in large volumes. Big diversified miners such as BHP and Glencore, plus Chinese state producers, dominate supply.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Integrated steelmakers in China, India, Japan, South Korea, Europe and Brazil buy washed coal; India's main buyers are SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, AM/NS India and RINL
- Merchant coke makers in India and China buy coal and sell coke; India took 17.4% and Brazil 12.1% of 2024 coke import value (UN Comtrade)
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Australian miners (BHP, Anglo American, Whitehaven, Coronado) ship from Queensland ports; Australia mined 131 Mt in 2024 (World Mining Data)
- Canadian (Glencore Elk Valley), US (Warrior, Alpha, Coronado), Russian and Mongolian producers; coke is exported by Poland, China, Indonesia and Colombia (UN Comtrade 2024)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dalian Commodity Exchange | Coking coal futures and metallurgical coke futures (yuan) | Most liquid coking coal and coke futures, reflecting Chinese domestic prices |
| SGX | Australian premium coking coal futures, cash-settled on an FOB Australia index | Main offshore hedging venue |
| CME | Australian coking coal (Platts) futures, cash-settled | Alternative hedging contract |
Contract types
- Term supply contracts priced on index averages (quarterly or monthly) with quality adjustments
- Spot cargoes priced on FOB Australia or CFR China and India assessments
- Before 2010: annual benchmark price negotiated between Japanese mills and Australian suppliers
Top trading houses
- Glencore
- Trafigura
- Noble Resources
- Mitsubishi Corporation (BMA partner)
- Mitsui
- Chinese state traders (Xiamen C&D, Xiamen Xiangyu)
How prices are discovered
- S&P Global Platts Premium Low Vol HCC FOB Australia
- Argus coking coal assessments FOB Australia and CFR China
- Fastmarkets and BigMint assessments of CFR India coking coal and Indian domestic coke
- Dalian futures settlements