Coking Coal (Metallurgical Coal)

Hard coking, semi-soft and PCI coal by CSR, fluidity and ash

Coking coal is priced on what it does in a coke oven, not on how much heat it holds, so the specification sheet reads differently from thermal coal. Coke strength after reaction (CSR, 65–74 for premium hard coking coal, 55–65 for second-tier) and coke reactivity index (CRI, 18–28) are the numbers that predict whether the coke it makes will hold up in a blast furnace. Gieseler maximum fluidity (typically 200–1,500 ddpm for hard coking coal, far higher for some high-vol coals) and free swelling index (7–9) describe the plasticity of the coal in the oven, and mean maximum vitrinite reflectance (1.1–1.5% for hard coking) places it on the coalification scale. Ash (7–10.5%), sulphur (0.3–0.8%), phosphorus (≤ 0.05%) and volatile matter (18–26% for low-vol and mid-vol hard coking coal, 26–35% for high-vol) round out the sheet, and a coke plant blends several of these coals to hit a target CSR at the lowest cost. Semi-soft coking coal, with a lower CSR and cheaper, dilutes the blend; PCI coal is injected straight into the blast-furnace tuyeres in place of coke and is bought on fixed carbon and low ash rather than coking properties. UN Comtrade 2025 export declarations under HS 2701 give the shape of the seaborne supply: Australia 355.6 million MT at an average USD 116/MT across thermal and coking grades, the USA 52.8 million MT at USD 189/MT — the highest average of the major exporters because its book is weighted to metallurgical coal — and Canada 36.8 million MT at USD 145/MT, a book that is almost entirely coking coal from British Columbia.

The buyer is a coke plant or an integrated steelworks, and it buys against its blend model, not against a generic hard-coking-coal sheet. That is why a premium low-vol Queensland coal, a US high-vol A coal and a Canadian mid-vol coal each have a place in the same blend at different prices, and why an enquiry that says only "hard coking coal, CSR 65+" is not yet a specification. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers hard coking, semi-soft and PCI coal from Australian, US, Canadian and Indonesian producers and trader positions against SGS or Intertek certification of CSR, CRI, fluidity, FSI, reflectance, ash, sulphur, phosphorus and volatile matter, on the buyer's own sampling standard. Parcels are structured in Panamax and Capesize lots on FOB and CFR terms out of Queensland, Hampton Roads, Vancouver and East Kalimantan, and because CBIL also runs a chartering desk (LaycanDesk) the freight leg can be quoted alongside the cargo. Send your blend target — CSR floor, ash and sulphur ceilings, volatile band and the coal you are replacing — and we will work an origin that fits the slot.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices coal and petcoke bulk freight on LaycanDesk.