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

Chinese prices for imported iron ore lost more ground in both spot and futures markets last week, with market sentiment roiled by volatile tensions in the Middle East and signs of an agreement to be reached between China's state iron ore buyer CMRG and global miner BHP on a 2026 term contract. Meanwhile, spot prices of metallurgical coke in China remained stable last week, with some coke firms proposing to raise their selling prices late in the week.

Over April 3-9, the average capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces among the 247 steelmakers nationwide under Mysteel's regular tracking rose by 0.8 percentage point on week to reach 89.7%. Many blast furnaces have reached their full capacity after recent operation resumption, market sources said. Iron ore: By April 10, Mysteel