WEEKLY: China's met coke market flashes warning signs despite solid fundamentals

China's metallurgical coke market witnessed a couple more warning signs this week, although underlying fundamentals largely remained supportive. Concerns over the newly proposed coke price hikes have intensified toward the end of the week, clouding the market prospects ahead.

Market participants had anticipated the successful implementation of the Yuan 50–55/tonne ($7.4–8.1/t) price hikes proposed by coke producers on Monday, but the increase was already delayed beyond the originally scheduled Wednesday effective date. In fact, coke market fundamentals were broadly balanced this week, as firm demand from steelmakers drove a