Some coke makers in China's Hebei and Shandong proposed to raise coke prices by 100-110 yuan/t for the first round, backed by tightening supply and rising coking coal costs.
Coking coal prices started to rise amid the expectation of a supply decrease as the fatal accident on February 22 in Inner Mongolia triggered wide-range safety inspections at mining areas.
The coke futures market surged in wake of the accident, which significantly boosted speculative demand for coke.
In addition, with production yet to be affected by environmental checks, steel mills continue to see improved demand and are increasing purchases in anticipation of a market recovery.
The near-term trend would remain to be seen from the status of the downstream demand.
On February 24, Fenwei assessed the Luliang Quasi Grade I coke in Shanxi at 2460 yaun/t, ex-plant with VAT, steady week on week.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Tammy Yang)
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