During the past week, the market prices of metallurgical coke in some regions in China have decreased slightly. Looking at the current situation, the market prices of finished steel in China have continued to fall while domestic steel mills' coke inventories are no longer at low levels: in this context, market prices of coke in China may decrease in the coming period.
Product name |
Specification |
Place of origin |
Average price（RMB/mt） |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Average price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
Coke |
2nd grade |
Shanxi |
1860 |
-20 |
283 |
-3 |
Shanghai |
2150 |
0 |
327 |
0 |
During the past week, mainstream quotations of second grade metallurgical coke from large scale producers in Shanxi Province have been at RMB 1,850/mt ($281/mt), while quotations for first grade metallurgical coke in the province are standing at RMB 1,950-2,000/mt ($296-304/mt), unchanged week on week. Meanwhile, the purchase prices of Hebei Province-based mills are at RMB 1,950-2,100/mt ($296-319/mt) for second grade metallurgical coke. The mainstream prices in the eastern China coke market are at RMB 2,150-2,200/mt ($327-334/mt), unchanged week on week, while prices in northeastern China are at RMB 2,000/mt ($304/mt), unchanged week on week. In addition, the mainstream prices of coking coal in the overall domestic market are at RMB 1,550-1,650/mt ($236-250/mt), also unchanged week on week.
Over the past week, some mills have started to lower their purchase prices of coke. In recent days, China's domestic market prices for steel products have declined by about RMB 200/mt ($30/mt), and this downward trend may continue. While the ex-works prices of steel products from large steel mills for March have mainly increased, prices from some small and medium sized mills have registered a slight fall in recent days. Accordingly, the coke market trend is being influenced by the weak finished steel market. Mills in Fujian and in northeastern China have begun to reduce their coke purchase prices by RMB 30-50/mt ($5-8/mt). In addition, since coke inventories at most steel mills have risen to normal levels, large volume purchases are less likely to be seen.
China's coke market is expected to follow a weak trend in the coming period. Generally, high coking coal prices, low demand and financial losses are likely to continue to impact coke production in China.