Chinese coke plants struggle to raise prices due to higher production costs

Friday, 30 September 2022 17:33:52 (GMT+3)   |   Istanbul
       

Amid restocking demand ahead of China's National Day holiday (October 1-7), ex-Russia coking prices have posted a further increase in deals to China. Specifically, at the beginning of the current week Russian company Mechel has managed to sell a low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) cargo at around $261/mt CFR China, up $40/mt compared to a week ago. Furthermore, another Russian company Stroyservis has reportedly booked a PCI cargo at $260/mt CFR China. Meanwhile, coke prices in China have remained unchanged this week, though coking plants have become determined to raise their coke prices in the near future on the back of higher production costs. It is noteworthy, that lately, coking plants’ capacity utilization rates have indicated declines: for instance, coking plants in western China have reduced their outputs by 10-30 percent. 

On balance, first-grade coke prices in Tangshan have settled at RMB 2,820/mt ($402.3/mt) ex-warehouse, moving sideways compared to September 23, according to SteelOrbis’ data.

Prices of coke in local markets in China 

Product Name

Specification

Place of Origin

PriceRMB/mt

Price ($/mt)

Weekly ChangeRMB/mt

Weekly Change$/mt

Coke

First grade (A<13.0,S<0.75,CSR>65.0)

Hancheng,Shaanxi

2,830

403.7 

0.0 

-1.2 

Zibo ,Shandong

2,970

423.7 

0.0 

-1.2 

Pingdingshan,Henan

2,730

389.4 

0.0 

-1.1 

Tangshan

2,820

402.3 

0.0 

-1.2 

Huaibei,Anhui

2,830

403.7 

0.0 

-1.2 

Average

2,836

404.6 

0.0 

-1.2 

including 13 percent VAT

As of Friday, September 30, coal futures prices at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have increased by 1.03 percent within the past week to RMB 2,107/mt ($297/mt), while coke futures prices have settled at RMB 2,791/mt ($393/mt), rising by 2.4 percent during the same period.

$1 = RMB 7.0998


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