China increased coke imports by 67% y/y in January-September 2022

Steel companies of China in January-September 2022 reduced coke imports by 66.7% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 364 million tons. SteelOrbis reported about it.

In September 2022, China increased coke imports by 41.2% year-on-year – up to 7.31 million tons.

The main suppliers of coke to China in January-September 2022 were Japan, Russia and Colombia. At the same time, the average import price for this period was $439.04/t (+37.8% y/y). In September, India, Indonesia and Brazil accounted for 44.5% of coke imports to China. The average price per ton of coke in September was $474.7, which is 40.5% more than in the same month of 2021.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2021 production of coke in China decreased by 2.2% compared to 2020 – to 464 million tons. Steel enterprises produced 110 million tons of coke (+5.5% y/y), and coke chemical enterprises produced 354 million tons (-4.3% y/y).

Coke imports into China in 2021 amounted to 1.33 million tons, which is 55.3% less than in 2020. Exports increased by 75.4% y/y – up to 6.45 million tons.

Coking coal deliveries to China for January-August 2022 increased by 25.5% compared to the same period in 2021 – up to 35.58 million tons. In October 2022 coking coal prices in China were at the level of $305/t. The trend in market prices was negative due to low demand for steel in the country, which drags the prices of coke down.

China is the largest producer of steel in the world. In 2021, Chinese steelmakers reduced steel production by 3% compared to 2020 – to 1.03 billion tons.