In early September (September 1-10) this year, the average prices in China of coking coal and second-grade metallurgical coke were recorded at RMB 1,278.6/mt ($180.8/mt) and RMB 1,741.5/mt ($246.2/mt) respectively, as announced by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), decreasing by RMB 21.4/mt ($3.0/mt) and RMB 137.7/mt ($17.5/mt) or by 1.6 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, compared to prices in late August (August 21-31).
In late August, the price of coking coal had remained stable, while second-grade metallurgical coke prices had decreased by RMB 40.1/mt ($5.7/mt) or 2.1 percent, compared to prices in mid-August.
In the early September period, the supply-demand imbalance put pressure on spot market prices. Though coking plants’ capacity utilization rates have seen slight decreases, inventories at coking plants have recorded big rises.