MONTHLY: Winter restocking demand seen supporting China met coke prices

China's metallurgical coke market is set to falter in December as steelmakers are expected to push for lower raw material prices including those of coke, Mysteel's latest monthly report on the commodity warned. But any slide in met coke prices should be slowed by winter restocking of feed coke by mills in the weeks ahead, the report noted.

In November, two rounds of price increases won by the independent coke makers led met coke prices to climb by Yuan 100-110/tonne ($14.1-15.6/t), which further eroded the steelmakers' profitability during what is usually a slack month for steel demand in China. According to Mysteel's recent survey of 247 blast furnace