During the week ending January 15, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved on a stable trend. Transaction activity in the overall market has been at decent levels. As of January 15, coke futures contract (1605) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 626.5/mt ($95/mt), almost remaining unchanged week on week. Average coke prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, domestic steelmakers’ coke purchase volumes have been at decent levels, providing a certain degree of support for coke prices. With the approach of the Chinese New Year holiday (February 8-14), Chinese coke producers have lowered their capacity utilization rates, which has exerted a positive impact on coke prices. Meanwhile, the rebound of finished steel prices has lost momentum. In addition, iron ore prices have softened, which will likely negatively affect the coke market. It is thought that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely continue their stable trend in the coming week, though they may soften in the longer term.
| Product name | Spec. | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| Coke | 2nd grade | Hancheng,Shaanxi | 550 | 83 | 0 |
| Zibo ,Shandong | 690 | 105 | 0 | ||
| Pingdingshan,Henan | 650 | 99 | 0 | ||
| Tangshan | 680 | 103 | 0 | ||
| Huaibei,Anhui | 750 | 114 | 0 | ||
| Average | 664 | 101 | 0 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.59