DAILY: China's met coke rally hopes fade as pressures build

Hopes for a further uptick in Chinese metallurgical coke prices faded on July 13, as buying demand and market sentiment soured amid slowing operations at domestic steelmakers. Market participants expect downside pressure to increase for the coke market, as steel mills try to reduce raw material costs amid widening profit losses.

On Monday, Mysteel Coke Index (MCI) CDQ, which tracks China's national dry-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke prices, remained unchanged from the last session at Yuan 2,000.3/tonne ($295/t), while the MCI CWQ for wet-quenched quasi-first-grade met coke edged up by Yuan 1.3/t to Yuan 1,839.2/t, both including VAT. Their lengthy negotiations over the