Chinese coke prices to go down
2024-03-28 08:35:28 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 28 Mar 24 - Domestic steel mills required cutting purchasing prices of coke by RMB100-110/t (USD14-15/t) on Wednesday, and insiders believe coking plants would finally accept the price decline on Thursday upon the slow demand for downstream steel. The current prevailing prices of dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7 hover at RMB1,950-2,100/t (USD270-291/t) D/P, similar to late last week.
"Steel mills instated on the price decline of coke by RMB100-110/t (USD14-15/t) on Wednesday, and we may have to accept on Thursday seeing the price drop of downstream steel," noted the sales official from a coking plant in Shanxi, quoting RMB1,980/t (USD274/t) D/P EXW for dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7. He just sold 3,000t of the material at RMB1,980/t (USD274/t) on Wednesday, while sold 10,000t a day early this month. According to him, steel mills endeavor to cut stocks of coke dragged by the poor sales performance of steel. Besides, nearby coking plants tend to increase production boosted by the recovering profits, while cut production by 30%-50% in the past one month. The source believes prices of coke would finally go down on Thursday.
Reporting an annual production capacity of 2.05 million tons, the coking plant might produce 100,000t of coke in March, similar to February. The output in the first quarter of 2024 would achieve about 350,000t. The coking plant produced more or less 2.1 million tons of coke in 2023, holding zero inventory at present.
The purchasing official from a steel mill in Hebei also believes prices of coke would go down by RMB100-110/t (USD14-15/t) on Thursday. According to him, the demand for downstream steel remains soft, and participants adopt pessimistic attitudes towards the market prospect. Besides, steel mills burden with both sales and capital pressures. "We keep cutting stocks of raw materials. For example, we hold around 15,000t of coke at the moment, down from 18,000t early this month. Besides, we only build 5-day consumption of coal, while usually build about 10-day inventory," added the source. He did not purchase coke on Wednesday and last bought 3,000t of dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7 at RMB2,080/t (USD288/t) D/P delivered on Monday.
Based on an annual consumption capacity of 650,000t, the steel mill might consume 40,000t of coke in March, in line with February. The mill would consume 110,000t of coke in the first three months of 2024, and it used about 510,000t of coke in 2023.
"Steel mills instated on the price decline of coke by RMB100-110/t (USD14-15/t) on Wednesday, and we may have to accept on Thursday seeing the price drop of downstream steel," noted the sales official from a coking plant in Shanxi, quoting RMB1,980/t (USD274/t) D/P EXW for dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7. He just sold 3,000t of the material at RMB1,980/t (USD274/t) on Wednesday, while sold 10,000t a day early this month. According to him, steel mills endeavor to cut stocks of coke dragged by the poor sales performance of steel. Besides, nearby coking plants tend to increase production boosted by the recovering profits, while cut production by 30%-50% in the past one month. The source believes prices of coke would finally go down on Thursday.
Reporting an annual production capacity of 2.05 million tons, the coking plant might produce 100,000t of coke in March, similar to February. The output in the first quarter of 2024 would achieve about 350,000t. The coking plant produced more or less 2.1 million tons of coke in 2023, holding zero inventory at present.
The purchasing official from a steel mill in Hebei also believes prices of coke would go down by RMB100-110/t (USD14-15/t) on Thursday. According to him, the demand for downstream steel remains soft, and participants adopt pessimistic attitudes towards the market prospect. Besides, steel mills burden with both sales and capital pressures. "We keep cutting stocks of raw materials. For example, we hold around 15,000t of coke at the moment, down from 18,000t early this month. Besides, we only build 5-day consumption of coal, while usually build about 10-day inventory," added the source. He did not purchase coke on Wednesday and last bought 3,000t of dry quenching metallurgical coke A13 S0.7 at RMB2,080/t (USD288/t) D/P delivered on Monday.
Based on an annual consumption capacity of 650,000t, the steel mill might consume 40,000t of coke in March, in line with February. The mill would consume 110,000t of coke in the first three months of 2024, and it used about 510,000t of coke in 2023.
