In the January-June period of the current year, China’s coke output amounted to 234.0 million mt, up 6.7 percent year on year, as announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). According to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), the coke output produced by large and medium-sized steelmakers amounted to 55.0 million mt, up 5.8 percent year on year, while production by other coke producers amounted to 179 million mt, increasing by 11.9 percent year on year.
The MIIT stated that coke prices in the first half of the current year fluctuated at high levels, influenced by the coal and finished steel markets. The average price of second-grade coke in China in the first half of the year was at RMB 1,987.2/mt ($288.5/mt), up 4.1 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, profit margins in the coke industry have been good. Taking Shanxi Province as an example, in the January-May period this year the operating revenue of coking plants in Shanxi amounted to RMB 81.87 billion ($11.9 billion), up 15.4 percent year on year, while their aggregate gross profit totaled RMB 4.26 billion ($0.62 billion), rising by 17.0 percent year on year.