Recently, majority of steel mills in Northeast China acted in concert to cut prices by CNY 30 per tonne for coke purchasing, a move aimed at bringing down their current abundant inventories of the material.
Coking plants had no choice but to bow to their joint efforts, which signals cool down in the coke market. However, market players show a glimmer of optimism in coke pricing trends, expecting a rally coming soon given the mild volatility of the domestic steel market presently.
Heilongjiang province
In Qitaihe today, the EXW price of II grade metallurgical coke offered by Longyang Coke and Electricity Corp reached CNY 1,900 per tonne, while the quotation was confronted with steel mills’ proposal of price cut of CNY 30 per tonne. The mainstream EXW price of other coking plants in the region declined CNY 30 per tonne to CNY 1,780 per tonne. In Shuangyashan, II grade metallurgical coke was mainly traded at CNY 1,780 per tonne, a drop of CNY 30 per tonne. In Qiqihar, coking plants also felt the pinch of low price levels at CNY 1,770 pt.
Liaoning province
In Yingkou, the transaction price of II grade metallurgical coke (A<13.0%, CSR>55%) stabilized at CNY 1,900 per tonne; and most deals for I grade metallurgical coke (A<12.5%, CSR>58%) in Shenyang were made at the price of CNY 1,950 per tonne, unchanged from the price level before Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Yingkoubased mills kept their purchase price for II grade metallurgical coke unchanged at CNY 1,920 per tonne, delivered to the plant. In Anshan, however, steel mills lowered their purchase price for I and II grade metallurgical coke at separately CNY 1,990 per tonne and CNY 1,940 per tonne, delivered to the plant. The same adjustment was also made by mills based in Fushun, purchasing I and II grade metallurgical coke from suppliers in the three Chinese northeastern provinces at CNY 2,010 per tonne and CNY 1,920 per tonne respectively, delivered to the plant as well.
To know exact prevailing steel prices in China on daily basis, subscribe to services of SteelHome by sending a mail to admin@steelprices-china.com
