SHANGHAI, Jul 18 (SMM) – According to SMM, as steel enterprises slowed down the purchase of coking coal, coal mines had fewer new orders. While the online auctions for coking coal failed frequently, a bearish sentiment brew in the coal market and the quotations for some coal types became lower. As for the the coke market, on the supply side, the coke prices fell for the third around, which caused severe losses to some coke enterprises in Shanxi Province and forced them to suspend shipments. As some coke enterprise were poised to further reduce the production due to huge losses, the supply of coke decreased. However, the inventory of some coke enterprises still increased since downstream demand continued to weaken. On the demand side, the prices of steel continued to fall as the terminal demand remained sluggish, and the demand further weakened due to the increasing number of blast furnaces suspended for the maintenance in the steel mills.
On the whole, the coke enterprises suffered expanded losses, and some intended to enhance production restrictions, hence tightening the supply of coke. However, the prices of steel continued to fall, and the overall demand for coke was weak since the enthusiasm of steel mills to purchase declined. The prices of coke in the short term are expected to drop.
