During the given week, due to their tight profit margins, domestic steelmakers have been exerting pressure on coking plants, which accordingly have been obliged to lower their sales prices. Recently, the Chinese government has imposed stricter environmental protection measures on the steelmaking industry, negatively impacting the capacities of some medium and small-sized steelmakers, resulting in a weakening of demand for coke. Meanwhile, the ongoing declines in coke futures and iron ore futures prices have contributed to bearish sentiment among market participants in the overall industry chain. It is expected that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will indicate a slight downtrend in the coming week as steelmakers' purchasing activities improve at a slow rate.
Latest situation in local Chinese coke market
During the week ending March 20, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated a stronger downtrend compared to the previous week, while transaction activity in the overall market has shown a slow improvement, remaining on the sluggish side. As of March 20, coke futures contract (1509) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 1,007/mt ($162/mt), down $4/mt week on week. Local coke prices in the Chinese domestic market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
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