There are three pricing tiers in the coking coal market. The...

There are three pricing tiers in the coking coal market. The first is the benchmark Australian prices, which are used for most long-term contracts. These are currently about $110 per tonne, including shipping costs. Traders fear the benchmark could lose relevance if the restrictions are not lifted soon and the price becomes detached from market fundamentals. “It’s questionable if it can remain a global benchmark,” said Mr Hall.The second tier is China import prices. These are reflected through another premium low-volatility contract, which includes the cost of freight and carries the designation CFR. This price has jumped more than 14 per cent to $170 a tonne since the ban came into effect, as Chinese mills have turned to suppliers in the US, Canada and Russia. And finally there are domestic prices in China, which S&P Global Platts estimates are at $196 a tonne.Traders expect producers outside Australia will try to take advantage of high domestic prices to ship more tonnes to China. Canada’s Teck Resources said this week it was targeting coking coal sales of 7.5m tonnes to China next year, up from 2.5m tonnes in 2019. “We aim to sell these tonnes at CFR China pricing,” Teck said.

Barley imports from the United States to China would be effective from this week, according to a notice on the China Customs website.

Australia's barley exports to China are under threat. James Davies

The deal was part of China's agreement to buy an additional $US200 billion ($310 billion) in additional American goods and services under a trade deal.

China is preparing to slap steep tariffs on Australian barley imports after an 18-month anti-dumping investigation. China also this week suspended beef exports from four Australian abattoirs.

"US barley products have similar quality levels to Australian barley which is replaceable. It is a shame that Australia is losing its competitive advantage in beef and barley," said Lin Guofa, an analyst with consulting firm Bric Agriculture Group.