During the week ending November 21, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained on a stable trend, while transaction activity in the overall market has continued to be at decent levels. As of November 21, coke futures contract (1501) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 1,056/mt ($172/mt), down $1/mt week on week. Local coke prices in the Chinese domestic market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, prices of iron ore have indicated significant declines, exerting negative pressure on the domestic coke market. In this context, while coking plants and traders have been pushing for increases in coke prices, steelmakers have so far successfully resisted these price rise attempts and so domestic coke prices have continued their stable movement. Meanwhile, due to the colder weather, demand for finished steel has become sluggish especially in northern China, resulting in a decreasing trend for finished steel prices, which also affects coke prices. However, since some shortages have been seen in supplies of coke, coking plants and traders are still looking for price rises especially as transaction activities have been at decent levels. As for the coming week, it is expected that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will remain on a stable trend or may even indicate a slight rising movement.