During the week ending May 12, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have generally decreased, while transaction activity in the overall market has been at low-to-medium levels. As of May 12, coke futures contract (1709) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 1,508/mt ($220/mt), up $4/mt week on week. Average coke prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, many domestic steelmakers’ capacity utilization rates have declined due to steel production restrictions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, resulting in lower demand for coke. Meanwhile, supply volumes from coking plants are at relatively high levels, which exerts negative pressure on coke prices. Overall inventory levels of coke have increased. It is expected that domestic coke prices will continue to move down in the coming week.
| Product name | Specification | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| Coke | Second grade | Hancheng, Shaanxi | 1,710 | 248 | ↓50 |
| Zibo, Shandong | 1,730 | 251 | ↓85 | ||
| Pingdingshan, Henan | 1,725 | 250 | 0 | ||
| Tangshan | 1,820 | 264 | ↓15 | ||
| Huaibei, Anhui | 1,840 | 267 | ↓40 | ||
| Average | 1,765 | 256 | ↓38 |
$1 = RMB 6.90