DAILY: Tug-of-war drags on China's ninth met coke price hikes

The tug-of-war between Chinese coke producers and steelmakers over the ninth round of metallurgical coke price hikes dragged on through June 26, temporarily putting market prices at a standstill. Although the price increase is still highly likely to be implemented, it is expected to mark the final round of the current uptrend that began in late May.

Mysteel Coke Index (MCI) CDQ, which tracks China's national dry-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke prices, remained unchanged from the previous day at Yuan 1,946.4/tonne ($286.3/t) last Friday, while the MCI CWQ for wet-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke also stood flat at Yuan 1,771.6/t, both including VAT. Chinese steel mills remained muted about