Coking Coal And Coke Markets Had No Inventory Pressure

Coking coal market: At the beginning of the week, a coal company in Luliang, Shanxi stopped production for rectification due to a safety accident, involving a production capacity of 3 million mt. Therefore, supply of coal types may be tightened. Coal mines produced for earlier orders, and had no inventory pressure for the time being. Downstream buyers aimed to meet rigid demand after replenishing inventory. In terms of auctions, most of coal auctions were unsold, and market sentiment cooled.

Coke market: On the supply side, with stable operating rate, inventory of coking plants appeared low, and the pace of shipments of coke plants slowed down slightly.

On the demand side, there were some demands from pig iron producers whose operating rate stayed high for coke. However, terminal demand remained soft. In addition, buying appetites from steel mills decreased for the narrowing of steel profits, and they so purchased goods for hand-to-mouth use. At the same time, news of environmental protection and production restrictions in Tangshan came out under the sway of the weather, which is likely to exert a certain negative impact on steel mill procurement.

On the whole, the steel market was still in the off-season, and the actual demand for steel appeared muted. Steel mills were unwilling to accept a rise in coke prices. Coke market may swing on a stable note in a short term.