Higher-priced coking coal probably will impact the steel industry’s transition to greener production methods as well as the value-based pricing of iron ore. Higher-priced coking coal increases the expense of producing steel via blast furnaces, both in absolute terms and when compared with other routes. This typically leads to higher steel prices as raw material cost is undergone. It could also accelerate saving money transition in steelmaking as emerging green technologies, such as hydrogen reduction, would are more competitive compared with established production methods sooner. The need to reline or rebuild blast furnaces roughly every ten to 15 years at a price that varies between $100 million and $300 million presents steelmakers with clear decision points, so they really will need to evaluate the cost of emerging technologies, for example hydrogen-based direct reduced iron, and decide to switch their blast furnaces.
Increased coke prices would also affect the value-based pricing of iron ore. Prices for different qualities of iron ore products rely upon their iron content and chemical (mainly phosphorus, alumina, and silica content) and physical composition (lumps versus fines versus pellets). Lower-quality iron ores want more energy to lessen, resulting in higher coke rates within the blast furnace. Higher coking coal prices boost the cost penalty incurred by steelmakers, leading to higher price penalties for low-grade iron ores. This might affect overall iron ore price dynamics by 50 % other ways, with regards to the a higher level total iron ore demand. In a scenario, if total requirement for iron ore may be met solely with high-grade iron ores, it is likely that benchmark iron ore prices will stay steady. However, price reductions in price for lower-grade ore would increase significantly, potentially pushing producers of the material from the market. In the alternative scenario, if low-grade ore is required to meet overall demand, both benchmark iron ore prices and discounts could increase significantly, to ensure low-grade producers would continue in industry because the marginal suppliers.
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