DAILY: China's fifth met coke price hike takes effect, prospect bright

China's metallurgical coke market saw the fifth round of price hikes formally take effect on June 3, with steelmakers quickly accepting the increases as they actively sought to lock in more spot cargoes of this key steelmaking material. The prospect for a further uptrend stays optimistic given the current tightness in coke fundamentals.

Mysteel Coke Index (MCI) CDQ, gauging China's national dry-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke prices, rose Yuan 54.8/tonne ($8.1/t) from the day prior to Yuan 1,786/t on Wednesday, while the MCI CWQ for wet-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke also gained Yuan 47.2/t to Yuan 1,631/t, both including VAT. On Wednesday, Hebei Iron and