Steel mills resist coke producers' increase in coke prices and actively consume inventories

In August, with the slow recovery of demand for building materials, the start of the blast furnace gradually reached a high level, accompanied by the continuous increase in demand for coke. After three consecutive rounds of price cuts of 150 yuan/ton, coke enterprises began to increase coke prices as inventories continued to fall. At the end of the month, they barely landed the first round of 50 yuan/ton increase. As of August 24, the first-class metallurgical coke from Tangshan, Hebei, was quoted at 1,900 yuan/ton, and the first-class metallurgical coke from Linfen, Shanxi was quoted at 1,690 yuan/ton.

Although the overall supply and demand of coke are tight, the increase in coke prices is not easy to achieve, mainly because: on the one hand, the profit of steel mills is less than 100 yuan, and the cost pressure is relatively high, and there is serious resistance to the increase in raw materials; The overall coke inventory is high, and the willingness to replenish the coke inventory in the short term is not strong, so as to consume the inventory and resist the rise of coke enterprises. In terms of ports, due to the large price difference between futures and current prices, it is possible to obtain predictable and stable profits. In the early stage, there are more ports. In the later period, futures adjustments and arbitrage space disappear, and the speed and number of port traders have returned to low levels accordingly. Futures prices fell sharply after the main month change, and currently maintains a range of oscillations, waiting for further guidance from the spot market.