On Monday, prices for coking coal and coke in China jumped by about 9% and updated historical highs amid ongoing supply problems.
January coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 9% to 3.869 yuan ($601.24) per ton during the session. The contract ended trading at 3.847 yuan per ton, rising by 8.4%.
Coke futures have exhausted the allowed daily growth limit, jumping by the maximum possible 9% to 4,344 yuan per ton.
“Coke prices get the main support from coking coal prices,” said Tang Binhua of Founder CIFCO Futures, adding that the market is still experiencing a shortage of coking and thermal coal supplies.
In September, China produced 334.1 million tons of coal; in August – 335.24 million tons. In annual terms, production in September decreased by 0.9%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Coke production last month fell by 9.6% year-on-year to 37.18 million tons.
Meanwhile, iron ore futures in Dalian fell 2.3% to 711 yuan per ton on Monday. Spot prices for ore with 62 percent iron content rose by $2 to $123 per tonne on Friday, according to SteelHome data.
