Production Coke market remained steady after the fourth round of price cut, and most cokemakers maintained previous production rate. But production curbs at Shandong, Shaanxi and Henan out of environmental consideration dragged down capacity utilization. In addition, some loss-making coke firms also expanded production controls. The average capacity utilization for 100 coking plants surveyed by Sxcoal stood at 81.09% during the week, down 0.84 pp on the week.

Stock As temperature slumped, coke sales were ordinary and stocks kept falling, while only several firms reported increased inventories due to reduced rigid demand and unsmooth deliveries. Sxcoal's data showed coke stocks at the surveyed plants totaled 682.9 Kt on Dec 18, down 8.7 Kt from the previous week.

Profit This week coke prices maintained steady, while coking coal prices also remained stable amid cokemakers' purchases. With mild declines of some coal grades, coke-making profits improved slightly. As temperatures slumped, some steel mills moderately replenished. But most mills purchased on a need-to basis given unclear coke price trend. This, combined with production curbs, dented rigid coke demand. Some mills even controlled coke deliveries. Coke stocks at the surveyed mills up by 0.06 day WoW to 12.14 days of use on average.