WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's iron ore prices slip, spot coke strengthens

Chinese prices for imported iron ore dropped in both spot and futures markets last week, but the declines were relatively small. Meanwhile, spot prices of metallurgical coke in China increased following the landing of a new price hike, though its futures prices recorded some losses.

With more blast furnaces (BFs) brought back online, operations among Chinese integrated steelmakers have improved further recently. Over March 27-April 2, the average capacity utilization rate of BFs among the 247 steelmakers nationwide under Mysteel's regular tracking rose by another 2.36 percentage points on week to reach 88.99%, the