WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's major steelmaking raw mat prices inch higher

Chinese prices for imported iron ore increased slightly in both spot and futures markets during April 20-24, following stronger steel prices bolstered by a steady recovery of steel demand from end-users. During the same period, spot and futures prices of metallurgical coke in China also strengthened, with the final landing of the second round of price hikes proposed by coke firms earlier this month.

Nonetheless, overall operations among Chinese integrated steel mills dropped mildly last week due to the maintenance works at certain blast furnaces. Over April 17-23, the capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces among the 247 steelmakers nationwide under Mysteel's regular tracking averaged 89.72%, lower by a negligible 0.06 percentage point