NBS: China's coke output tops 500 mln tonnes in '25 for new record high

Among the four, output of North China's Inner Mongolia and Hebei – ranking second and third respectively – both achieved new records, according to historical data from the NBS.

In December alone, China's coke output exceeded the previous peak of 42.6 million tonnes recorded last August to reach 42.74 million tonnes, also marking an all-time monthly high if the combined January-February data for each year is excluded.

NBS publishes a combined output total for January-February each year to iron out the holiday effect caused by the Chinese New Year break, which usually takes place during the two months, Mysteel Global notes.

Looking ahead, China's coke output could rise to another high in 2026, as Mysteel expects another 10.28 million tonnes/year of metallurgical coke capacity to be commissioned in North China's Shanxi this year, while few shutdowns have been scheduled.

Met coke accounts for around 87% of the total production calculated by the NBS, with the remainder being other products such as petroleum coke and semi coke, as reported.

Further expansions in capacity, however, may lead to more damage to profits among domestic met coke producers, as the industry is already suffering from entrenched overcapacity, Mysteel's latest annual report on the commodity noted.

In 2025, the 30 merchant met coke makers under Mysteel's nationwide survey logged an average loss of Yuan 17.4/tonne ($2.5/t) on coke sales, compared with the average loss of Yuan 19.7/t for 2024.

Written by Adrian Zhou, zhouwenhaoa@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com

Master the 2026 landscape for China's steel and raw materials markets. Join our 2.5-hour webinar hosted by 7 Mysteel analysts for data-driven insights and actionable outlooks.