During the week ending May 6, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued their upward trend, while transaction activity in the overall market has slackened compared to the previous week, though still remaining lively. As of May 6, coke futures contract (1609) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 984/mt ($151/mt), down $20/mt week on week. Average coke prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, coking plants and coke traders considered that the rises in coke prices still lagged behind those seen in prices of finished steel and iron ore and so they moved to raise their prices further. Meanwhile, the increases in coking coal prices have pushed up the cost of producing coke, which was another reason for coking plants to raise their coke prices. Due to the rises in prices of coke, steelmakers have now slowed down their coke purchases. After the recent uptrend, it is thought that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move on a stable trend in the coming week.
| Product name | Spec. | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| Coke | 2nd grade | Hancheng,Shaanxi | 800 | 123 | ↑50 |
| Zibo ,Shandong | 900 | 138 | ↑60 | ||
| Pingdingshan,Henan | 880 | 135 | ↑80 | ||
| Tangshan | 1,040 | 160 | ↑90 | ||
| Huaibei,Anhui | 930 | 143 | ↑30 | ||
| Average | 910 | 140 | ↑62 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.50