[SMM Coking Coal and Coke Daily Briefing] 20260928

[SMM Daily Review on Coking Coal and Coke]

Coking coal market:

Linfen low-sulphur coking coal was quoted at 2,510 yuan/mt.

On the coking coal side, some coal mines have completed or are nearing completion of their capacity tasks and have successively submitted production increase materials, but the approval cycle is long. Coupled with frequent safety inspections at production sites, overall mine operating rates remain low, leaving limited room for production increases. The production increase at resumed mines in Shanxi remains to be seen. The tight supply situation is unlikely to change materially in the short term, and coking coal prices remain supported.

Coke market:

The nationwide average price of quasi-first-grade metallurgical coke - dry quenching was 2,420 yuan/mt.

Supply side, coke producers' operating rates increased slightly, but raw material costs remained relatively high, and total production was still below the same period in history. The pattern of voluntary production restrictions has not changed. Downstream procurement was normal, and coke producers' own in-factory inventories were generally low, supporting spot prices. Demand side, blast furnace hot metal production fluctuated at highs, and rigid demand for coke still existed, but steel mill profitability continued to deteriorate, increasing resistance to high coke prices, dampening steel mills' procurement enthusiasm, weakening their willingness to actively restock, and their own coke inventories hit new lows. Overall, coke producers' production increased somewhat, but steel mill losses suppressed purchase willingness. Even with restocking demand ahead of the National Day holiday, market pessimism continued to intensify, and downward pressure on coke prices gradually increased in the short term. [SMM Steel]