China's steelmakers saw procurement costs for coking coal and coke surge month on month in July 2026, while costs for other key raw materials declined, according to data from the China Steel Development Research Institute.

Coking coal weighted average procurement costs averaged 1,627.39 yuan/t on a dry basis in July, up 8.42% from June. For January-July, average costs rose 13.82% year on year to 1,423.27 yuan/t.

The five benchmark mills with the lowest coking coal procurement costs in January-July averaged 1,158.98 yuan/t on a dry basis, 18.57% below the group average, while the five highest-cost mills averaged 1,584.99 yuan/t, 11.36% above the average.

PCI coal procurement costs averaged 1,147.57 yuan/t in July, up 2.96% month on month. January-July average costs rose 8.93% year on year to 1,022.76 yuan/t.

Metallurgical coke procurement costs averaged 1,918.20 yuan/t in July, up 8.07% from June. January-July average costs increased 11.85% year on year to 1,657.89 yuan/t.

Domestic iron ore concentrate procurement costs fell 2.43% month on month to 749.68 yuan/t in July, while January-July average costs rose 2.06% year on year to 785.18 yuan/t.

Imported iron ore fines procurement costs declined 4.69% month on month to 714.34 yuan/t in July. January-July average costs edged up 1.03% year on year to 762.39 yuan/t.

Total imported iron ore purchases by benchmark mills reached 330.65 million tonnes in January-July, with average procurement costs of 798.41 yuan/t on a 62% Fe equivalent basis.

Scrap steel procurement costs averaged 2,195.83 yuan/t in July, down 1.09% month on month, while January-July average costs rose 0.59% year on year to 2,192.89 yuan/t.

Silicon-manganese alloy procurement costs fell 0.62% month on month to 5,284.20 yuan/t in July. January-July average costs declined 1.30% year on year to 5,319.73 yuan/t.

Ferro-manganese procurement costs averaged 5,801.51 yuan/t in July, down 0.46% from June. January-July average costs fell 3.19% year on year to 5,995.34 yuan/t.