Coke output in China amounted to 228.686 million mt, down 2.5 percent year on year, 1.6 percentage points slower than the declining pace recorded in the first quarter of the current year, as announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). In particular, coke output by iron and steel enterprises reached 54.677 million mt, up 0.8 percent year on year, while by other coking plants totaled 174.009 million mt, down 3.5 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, coke prices have been at relatively low levels, for instance, the average price of coke with particle size greater than 40 millimeters in the first half this year stood at RMB 1,816/mt ($263/mt), down 10.7 percent year on year, 0.3 percentage points slower than the declining pace recorded in the first quarter of the current year, while of coke with particle size between 25-44 millimeters stood at RMB 1,734/mt ($251/mt), down 11.9 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage points slower than the declining pace recorded in the first quarter.
Moreover, in the first half this year, coke exports amounted to 1.758 million mt, down 54.3 percent year on year, with the average export price of $222.4/mt, down 24.5 percent year on year, while coke imports reached 746,000 mt, up 1030.8 percent year on year, with the average import price of $233.1/mt, up 6.2 percent year on year.
Coking plants’ profitability has improved by the middle of the year. In the first six months this year, the operating revenue of coking industry reached RMB 83.28 billion ($12.1 billion), down 15.6 percent year on year, 3.9 percentage points slower than the decreasing pace recorded in the first quarter, while the gross profit reached RMB 2.49 billion ($0.4 billion), down 57.7 percent year on year, 17 percentage points slower than the decreasing pace recorded in the first quarter.
