DAILY: China's seventh met coke price hike takes effect, outlook firm

The seventh round of China's metallurgical coke price increases took effect smoothly as scheduled on June 15, supported by resilient underlying fundamentals. Speculation about further price hikes is beginning to simmer, even as a weakening steel market looms as a longer-term risk on the horizon.

Mysteel Coke Index (MCI) CDQ, which tracks China's national dry-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke prices, increased by Yuan 52.7/tonne ($7.8/t) from last Friday to reach Yuan 1,892.6/t on Monday, while the MCI CWQ for wet-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke also gained Yuan 45.9/t to Yuan 1,725.3/t, both including VAT. Rizhao Steel Holding