Coking Coal Futures Plunge, Market Sentiment Turns Cautious Amid Steady Iron Ore, Steel-Coke Tug-of-War

[SMM Daily Commentary: Iron Ore Prices Stabilize at Steel Mills; Steel and Coke Continue to Engage in a Game of Tug-of-War]

Today, coking coal futures saw another sharp decline, reigniting market pessimism. On the demand side, as coke plants have gradually completed their last round of inventory replenishment and coking coal futures have continued to fall, market transactions have weakened recently, with coke plants and traders adopting a cautious wait-and-see attitude, making sustained improvement in demand unlikely. Looking ahead, as the recovery of end-consumer steel demand remains to be verified, the overall market sentiment is relatively cautious. Downstream coking plants are primarily focusing on replenishing inventories based on actual demand, and coking coal prices are expected to remain stable in the short term.