WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's iron ore prices rise, spot coke flat

China's spot prices of iron ore strengthened over February 5-8, the first week after the eight-day-long Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, mainly supported by the recovery of restocking demand for the feed material among integrated steel mills that maintained steady production. Meanwhile, the country's spot metallurgical coke prices remained largely stable, though a new round of price cuts is already underway.

The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among the 247 Chinese steel mills under Mysteel's regular survey was higher at 85.76% on average during January 24-February 5, rising by 1.12 percentage points from the pre-holiday level driven by the production resumption of more blast furnaces after maintenance completion. Iron ore: By February 8,