Coke Prices Decline Amid Increased Steel Mill Maintenance, Will Pre-Holiday Restocking Spark Rebound?

[SMM Commentary: Increased Blast Furnace Maintenance at Steel Mills, Coke Prices Fall for the Third Consecutive Time, Can Pre-Holiday Restocking Drive a Coke Rebound?]

The transmission of favourable macro front to end-use demand still requires some time to materialize. After the market sentiment towards favourable macro front faded, the trading logic of coking coal and coke futures returned to being primarily driven by fundamentals. Spot supply of coke was basically stable, but with a significant increase in blast furnace maintenance at steel mills recently, the market held strong expectations for a decline in pig iron production at steel mills. It is expected that steel mills' demand for coke may decrease accordingly, leading coke futures to continue the downward trend of the previous two trading days on December 17. As of the close of the daytime session on December 17, coke futures extended the losses of the previous two trading days, falling by 1.6% to 1,789 yuan/mt. Meanwhile, coking coal futures rebounded during the daytime session on December 17, ultimately closing with a gain of 0.84% at 1,147 yuan/mt.