WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's iron ore prices lose more ground, but coke rises further

Chinese prices for imported iron ore continued falling in both spot and futures markets during June 1-5, as shrinking profit margins among steelmakers led them to reduce ore purchases. In contrast, prices for metallurgical coke increased in the two markets over the same period, with the landing of the fifth coke price hike since April.

Production among Chinese blast-furnace (BF) steel mills slowed slightly during the past week as some mills halted operations for maintenance. The capacity utilization rate among the 247 BF steel producers under Mysteel's tracking slid 0.1 percentage point from the previous week to 90.2%. Iron ore: By June 5, Mysteel PORTDEX