WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's import iron ore prices weaken, spot coke largely stable

Chinese prices for imported iron ore lost ground in both spot and futures markets during October 13-17, as risk-averse sentiment mounted among market players. During the same period, spot prices of metallurgical coke were largely flat, but main coke futures in Dalian rose slightly, and coke firms proposed another hike in coke prices on October 17.

Meanwhile, Chinese blast furnace (BF) steel producers continued to reduce their production last week under the pressure of shrinking profit margins. The capacity utilization rate among the 247 BF steelmakers under Mysteel's regular tracking averaged 90.33% during October 10-16, lower by 0.22 percentage point compared with the prior survey