During the week ending July 21, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have mostly indicated a rising trend, though remaining stable in Pingdingshan, Henan Province, while transaction activity in the overall market has been at decent levels. As of July 21, coke futures contract (1709) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 1,946/mt ($287/mt), up $16/mt week on week. Average coke prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, domestic coke producers’ capacity utilization rates have decreased amid production restrictions due to environmental protection measures. Amid the rises seen in coke prices, downstream users have stepped up their purchases and so producers’ coke inventory levels have declined. Meanwhile, some coke producers plan to suspend production at the end of the July, which will result in tighter coke supply and exert a positive impact on coke prices. It is thought that coke prices will likely edge up slightly in the coming week, though a downward correction cannot be excluded if coke futures prices indicate a softening in the coming week.
| Product name | Specification | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| Coke | Second grade | Hancheng, Shaanxi | 1,650 | 244 | ↑50 |
| Zibo, Shandong | 1,750 | 258 | ↑50 | ||
| Pingdingshan, Henan | 1,700 | 251 | 0 | ||
| Tangshan | 1,780 | 263 | ↑50 | ||
| Huaibei, Anhui | 1,850 | 273 | ↑90 | ||
| Average | 1,746 | 258 | ↑48 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.77