WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's major steelmaking raw mat prices remain weak

Imported iron ore prices in China generally slipped in both spot and futures markets during August 3-7, though slight rallies were observed in the portside market driven by market concerns over short-term supply disruptions. For metallurgical coke, prices in the spot market lost more ground over the same period with the landing of another price cut, but its futures prices recorded some gains.

Operations among Chinese blast-furnace (BF) steelmakers increased during the past week, mainly as some BFs in North China's Hebei province were brought back online after earlier production restrictions were removed. During July 31-August 6, the average capacity utilization rate among the 247 BF steel producers under Mysteel's tracking rebounded