During the past week, the sixth round of hikes in coke prices was implemented in the Chinese domestic market on June 10. Meanwhile, mainstream coking plants have attempted to raise coke prices further: the attempt to achieve a seventh round of price rises has been made on June 12, and is expected to be fully implemented ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival (June 19-21). Coking coal prices have moved up, bolstering coke prices firmly. However, the quick rises in raw material prices have caused some coking plants to reduce their outputs. At the same time, coking plants have chosen to keep low coking coal inventories.
First-grade coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 1,950/mt ($286.3/mt) ex-warehouse, moving up by RMB 75/mt compared to June 5, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
Prices of coke in local markets in China
| Product Name | Specification | Place of Origin | Price（RMB/mt） | Price ($/mt) | Weekly Change（RMB/mt） | Weekly Change（$/mt） |
| Coke | First grade （A<13.0,S<0.75,CSR>65.0） | Hancheng, Shaanxi | 1,830 | 268.7 | 55.0 | 8.3 |
| Zibo, Shandong | 1,965 | 288.5 | 55.0 | 8.3 | ||
| Pingdingshan, Henan | 1,815 | 266.5 | 55.0 | 8.3 | ||
| Tangshan | 1,950 | 286.3 | 75.0 | 11.2 | ||
| Huaibei, Anhui | 1,865 | 273.8 | 55.0 | 8.3 | ||
| Average | 1,885 | 276.8 | 59.0 | 8.9 |
including 13 percent VAT
Prices of coking coal in local markets in China
| Product Name | Specification | Place of Origin | Price（RMB/mt） | Price ($/mt) | Weekly Change（RMB/mt） | Weekly Change（$/mt） |
| Coking Coal | A9,S0.4,V19,G88 | Linfen low-sulfur primary coking coal | 1,980 | 290.5 | 60.0 | 8.8 |
| A10.5,S3,V25,G80 | Lveliang high-sulfur primary coking coal | 1,559 | 228.7 | 16.0 | 2.3 | |
| A10,S1.8,V21,G90 | Jinzhong medium-sulfur primary coal | 1,610 | 236.2 | 175.0 | 25.7 | |
| A12,S1.2,V37.G90 | Linfen low-sulfur 1/3 coking coal | 1,230 | 180.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Average | 1,594.75 | 234.0 | 62.8 | 9.2 |
As for the local coking coal market, prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued their uptrend amid the slow release of production capacity utilization rates. Though 77 coal mines have resumed operations, the market is still seeing a shortage of supply. Inventories of coking coal have been quite low, while demand has been strong, positively affecting prices. It is thought that coking coal prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely indicate slight rises in the coming week.
On June 12, offer prices of coke CSR65 in the export market are at $285/mt FOB, up by $10/mt compared to June 5, while some offers are also at $290-295/mt FOB, in line with those from Indonesia.
As of June 12, coking coal futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are standing at RMB 1,370.5/mt ($201/mt), decreasing by RMB 88.5/mt ($13/mt) or 6.1 percent since June 5, while rising by 0.81 percent compared to the previous trading day, June 11. Meanwhile, coke futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) are standing at RMB 2,078/mt ($305/mt), increasing by RMB 36.5/mt ($5.4/mt) or 1.8 percent since June 5, while up 3.56 percent compared to the previous trading day, June 11.
$1 = RMB 6.8109
