During the week ending December 30, metallurgical coke prices have moved sideways in China, though some steelmakers have tried to cut their purchase prices for coke by RMB 100-110/mt ($14-15.4/mt). The results of these efforts remain to be seen. Coking plants’ capacity utilization has increased following some improvements in tackling Covid-19 infection rates. However, inventories of coke have been relatively low, bolstering prices.
Likewise, in the coal segment, no substantial changes have been seen so far. In particular, an 85,000 mt cargo of ex-US premium hard coking coal, Blue Creek No. 7, has been offered at $330/mt CFR, while a 135,000 mt lot of ex-US hard coking coal, Buchanan, has been available at $300/mt CFR, both for January laycan.
Meanwhile, first-grade coke prices in Tangshan are at RMB 3,060/mt ($439.3/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to December 23, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
Prices of coke in local markets in China
Product Name |
Specification |
Place of Origin |
Price（RMB/mt） |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly Change（RMB/mt） |
Weekly Change（$/mt） |
Coke |
First grade （A<13.0,S<0.75,CSR>65.0） |
Hancheng,Shaanxi |
3,050 |
437.9 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
Zibo ,Shandong |
3,190 |
458.0 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
||
Pingdingshan,Henan |
2,960 |
425.0 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
||
Tangshan |
3,040 |
436.5 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
||
Huaibei,Anhui |
3,060 |
439.3 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
||
Average |
3,060 |
439.3 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
All prices include 13 percent VAT.
As of Friday, December 30, coal futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) have increased by 1.35 percent over the past week, to RMB 1,864.5/mt ($269/mt), while coke futures prices have settled at RMB 2,670/mt ($383/mt), up 0.9 percent within the week.
$1 = RMB 6.9646