DAILY: China's met coke producers return to losses after six weeks

Following continuous price cuts on metallurgical coke this month, China's coke producers in major producing areas reported losses again this week. While steelmakers' push for lower raw material prices persists, profitability among coke plants is expected to remain under pressure in the near term.

On December 25, Mysteel's survey of 30 merchant coke makers across the country showed that they were losing an average of Yuan 18/tonne ($2.6/t) on coke sales, down Yuan 34/t from the average gain of Yuan 16/t a week prior and marking their first loss since mid-November. Worsening profits among