Chinese coke prices hard to go up
2023-03-16 08:17:50 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 16 Mar 23 - The confidence of domestic coking plants weakened gradually as steel mills refused the price increase for more than two weeks, and they did not require to lift prices this week. The present prevailing prices of metallurgical coke A13 S0.7 stand at RMB2,400-3,000/t (USD349-436/t) D/P EXW, similar to late last week. Insiders foresee flat prices of coke in the upcoming several days seeing the watchful atmosphere in the market.
"We believe prices of coke hard to go up and might keep flat in the following several days," deemed the sales official from a coking plant in East China. According to him, steel mills continue endeavoring to cut production costs this week, despite the price rebound of downstream steel. Besides, there is rumor that the government would require steel mills to reduce production further this year. In addition, coking plants could gain profits of around RMB100/t (USD15/t) now following the price drop of coal, and thus the motivation for lifting prices of coke weakens. In the meantime, the source pointed out that with low stocks in hand, steel mills purchase normally and have no intention to move down purchasing prices of coke. He sold around 10,000t of dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7 at RMB3,000/t (USD436/t) when quoting RMB3,050/t (USD443/t) on Wednesday, and last sold 10,000t at the same price early this week.
Reporting an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tons, the coking plant might produce 200,000t of coke in March, up from 180,000t in February. The output in the first quarter of 2023 would achieve 580,000t, against 2.1 million tons in 2022. The coking plant does not hold any stock at present.
"We found it hard for steel mills to accept the price rise of coke this week as most coking plants could gain profits of around RMB100/t (USD15/t) while the demand for downstream steel remains far from strong," noted the sales official from another coking plant in North China. "Believing prices unlikely to change in the coming several days, traders refuse to buy, and thus coking plants could only sell coke to steel mills. Therefore, steel mills remain not in a hurry to purchase and just maintain normal stocks, and some southern mills even report historical low stocks," added the source. Benefited from decreasing production costs, coking plants maintain high operation rates. Quoting RMB2,500/t (USD363/t) for wet quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7, the source sold 5,000t to a regular buyer at RMB2,450/t (USD356/t) on Wednesday. He predicts stable prices of coke in the coming several days seeing the steady market.
Based on an annual production capacity of 2.05 million tons, the coking plant would produce 430,000t of coke in the first quarter of 2023, against 1.8 million tons in 2022. The output in March might reach 150,000t, up from 130,000t in February. The coking plant does not hold any stock for the moment.
"We believe prices of coke hard to go up and might keep flat in the following several days," deemed the sales official from a coking plant in East China. According to him, steel mills continue endeavoring to cut production costs this week, despite the price rebound of downstream steel. Besides, there is rumor that the government would require steel mills to reduce production further this year. In addition, coking plants could gain profits of around RMB100/t (USD15/t) now following the price drop of coal, and thus the motivation for lifting prices of coke weakens. In the meantime, the source pointed out that with low stocks in hand, steel mills purchase normally and have no intention to move down purchasing prices of coke. He sold around 10,000t of dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7 at RMB3,000/t (USD436/t) when quoting RMB3,050/t (USD443/t) on Wednesday, and last sold 10,000t at the same price early this week.
Reporting an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tons, the coking plant might produce 200,000t of coke in March, up from 180,000t in February. The output in the first quarter of 2023 would achieve 580,000t, against 2.1 million tons in 2022. The coking plant does not hold any stock at present.
"We found it hard for steel mills to accept the price rise of coke this week as most coking plants could gain profits of around RMB100/t (USD15/t) while the demand for downstream steel remains far from strong," noted the sales official from another coking plant in North China. "Believing prices unlikely to change in the coming several days, traders refuse to buy, and thus coking plants could only sell coke to steel mills. Therefore, steel mills remain not in a hurry to purchase and just maintain normal stocks, and some southern mills even report historical low stocks," added the source. Benefited from decreasing production costs, coking plants maintain high operation rates. Quoting RMB2,500/t (USD363/t) for wet quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7, the source sold 5,000t to a regular buyer at RMB2,450/t (USD356/t) on Wednesday. He predicts stable prices of coke in the coming several days seeing the steady market.
Based on an annual production capacity of 2.05 million tons, the coking plant would produce 430,000t of coke in the first quarter of 2023, against 1.8 million tons in 2022. The output in March might reach 150,000t, up from 130,000t in February. The coking plant does not hold any stock for the moment.
