During the week ending October 9, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have declined in Shandong, Hebei and Anhui, though remaining stable in Shaanxi and Henan, while transaction activity in the overall market has been at low levels. As of October 9, coke futures contract (1601) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 764/mt ($120/mt), down $1/mt week on week. Average coke prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
Recently, the poor performance and downtrend in the domestic finished steel market have negatively affected coke prices, while the declines in prices of raw materials, including iron ore and coke, have been lower than the declines in finished steel prices, squeezing steelmakers' profit margins further. Accordingly, steel producers have been putting downward pressure on coke prices, resulting in decreases in coke prices in some parts of the country. It is thought that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will probably indicate further declines in the coming week as a significant improvement in the finished steel market appears unlikely.
Product name | Spec. | Place of origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Coke | 2nd grade | Hancheng,Shaanxi | 680 | 107 | 0 |
Zibo ,Shandong | 730 | 115 | ↓20 | ||
Pingdingshan,Henan | 760 | 120 | 0 | ||
Tangshan | 780 | 123 | ↓40 | ||
Huaibei,Anhui | 830 | 131 | ↓20 | ||
Average | 756 | 119 | ↓16 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.35