DAILY: China's met coke demand stays firm, price talks drag on

The Chinese metallurgical coke market held stable on May 19, reflecting the onset of intense bargaining between coke producers and steel mills following the producers' fresh request for higher selling prices a day earlier. Firm coke demand will likely provide additional support to the market, although modest headwinds from both upstream and downstream sectors are beginning to accumulate.

Mysteel assessed the national quasi-first-grade met coke prices at Yuan 1,677.4/tonne ($246.1/t) for dry-quenched type and Yuan 1,526/t for wet-quenched, including VAT, on Tuesday, both unchanged from the last session. Steelmakers remained largely unresponsive as of Wednesday morning to the Yuan 50–55/t met coke price hikes proposed by major coke