Latest situation in local Chinese coke market

During the week ending July 17, metallurgical coke prices in the Chinese domestic market have followed a downward trend in Shandong, Henan and Tangshan, though remained stable in other regions, while transaction activity in the overall market has remained lower than normal levels. As of July 17, coke futures contract (1509) offers at Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at RMB 810/mt ($130/mt), remaining unchanged week on week. Average coke prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the table below.

During the given week, the declining finished steel prices have exerted a negative impact on coke market. Though iron ore prices have seen a slight rebound in the given week, the activities have remained on the slack side, failing to provide support for coke prices. Some coke traders have reduced their prices in order to stimulate their sales and in parallel with steelmakers' expectations. Meanwhile, steelmakers have maintained a wait-and-see stance as they thought coke prices will likely edge down further, resulting in lower transaction activities. As for the coming week, though steelmakers still want to purchase coke at lower prices, the negative impact from sluggish finished steel market has eased to some degree. It is expected that coke prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move on a stable trend in the coming week.

17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.

$1 = RMB 6.21