Trade review: China-Australia relations transform met coal market dynamics
This is Part 1 of 5 in the S&P Global Platts Metals Trade Review series, where we dig through datasets and digest some of the key trends in metallurgical coal, iron ore, steel, scrap and alumina. We also explore what the next few months could bring, from supply and demand shifts, to new arbitrages, and to quality spread fluctuations.
Seaborne metallurgical coal and coke markets have entered 2021 in the wake of a transformative fourth quarter of 2020, which saw significant shifts in trade flows and price dislocations due to China’s temporary halt on Australian coal imports.