The Chinese metallurgical coke industry is now caught between rising coal prices in the upstream industry and softening steel prices in the downstream market. With higher production costs for coking enterprises, their profit margins have been shrinking rapidly.
Coking coal prices in China have recently indicated a strong uptrend following the implementation of measures to regulate the coking coal industry. On May 25, the sales prices of coking coal were at the base price of RMB 1,400-1,600/mt ($205-235/mt) FOT in Shanxi Province and at RMB 1,460-1,550/mt ($214-227/mt) FOT in Henan Province. Both price ranges indicated increases compared with the end of April.