Diverging trends emerge in seaborne and portside lump premiums

Lump premiums in the seaborne and portside markets diverged significantly over the past week. The Mysteel PORTDEX 62.5% Lump Premium fell by 0.11% to Yuan 1.5734/dmtu, while the Mysteel SEADEX 62.5% Lump Premium rose by 1.37% to $0.162/dmtu between July 31 and August 7.

The decline in the portside lump premium was primarily attributed to weaker fundamentals, characterized by constrained demand and rising supply. Lump demand softened amid the currently moderate value-in-use (VIU) advantage, as the fifth round of coke price increases dampened buyer enthusiasm. This, combined with the increased supply of lump,