The largest nickel producer in the Philippines Nickel Asia Corp said it expects shipments to be the same in 2019 as last year, but plans to increase domestic sales to maximize profits.

As the world’s second largest nickel supplier, Nickel Asia accounts for about half of the world’s nickel ore production. Its ore is exported to customers in China and Japan who process it into stainless steel and use it for battery materials.

However, Emmanuel Samson, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nickel Asia, said that after lifting the ban on metal exports to China in 2017, Indonesian miners began to challenge the status of Philippine miners. Indonesia’s largest nickel producer has been increasing exports to China, while Chinese buyers prefer Indonesian ore because of its higher grade.

To compensate for the loss of market share in China, Nickel Asia will increase shipments to its two Philippine smelters. These factories used to buy ore linked to LME prices and then ship it to Japan for further processing into “first-class” nickel.

He said that this year’s nickel ore sales will be roughly equal to 19.3 million wet tons in 2018, up from 17.7 million wet tons in 2017.

The company operates four of the 30 nickel mines in the Philippines. The company’s net profit rose 9% last year to 3.01bn Philippine pesos ($57.1 million), up from 2.77bn last year, largely due to the rise in LME prices.

In 2018, the average price of nickel sold by LME to the two domestic processing plants was $5.95 per pound, compared with $4.67 in 2017.

On the other hand, the unprocessed pulp shipped to China last year accounted for 60% of the company’s total sales, 11.54 million wet tons, up from 9.64 million tons in 2017, although the average price fell to $21.53 from $24.42 the previous year.

Samson said that in order to benefit from the rising price of LME, Nickel Asia may increase its domestic business related to LME to 45% – 50%, and reduce its exports to China to 50% – 55%.

Nickel Asia is the only nickel miner in the Philippines with ownership of a processing plant, which makes the company “unique” compared with other Philippine miners. Nickel Asia’s fifth mine, Dinapigue, was acquired in 2015 and is still in exploration and development. The company expects shipments to begin next year or 2021, but does not disclose the estimated production.

Global metal producers expect nickel demand for electric vehicle batteries to grow substantially in the next few years.

Abstract:

Methanol futures prices fell under pressure, the focus of gravity continued to explore, falling below the important support level of 2530, and further fell. Short positions in the market increased and major methanol contracts closed down for four consecutive trading days. Influenced by the decline in the futures market, the domestic methanol spot market was weakly adjusted and the negotiation price was loosened. Enterprises in the main production areas of Northwest China have poor shipments, and their quotations have been lowered. Recently, the overhaul of enterprises has increased, and the operating load of methanol plant has decreased, but the impact on the overall supply is not significant at present. Domestic transport costs have been reduced, and the cost of methanol delivery has declined, but the enthusiasm for purchasing in the downstream market is not high. The olefin plant just needs to be stable, the traditional demand performance is not good, and the overall demand for methanol is low. Downstream factories mainly digest the inherent stock, and take the goods at a low price. Some imported and domestic cargo arrived and discharged at port, but the volume of discharged cargo in coastal areas decreased positively. Methanol port stocks digested slowly and continued to accumulate, increasing to 1.13 million tons, a new year high, close to the peak of 11.516 million tons in September 2016. Parking and maintenance of equipment in the international market, production reduction, stable consolidation of the Asian region, continued to catch up in Europe and the United States, the outer plate of coastal areas to form a certain boost. The arbitrage window between coastal and inland areas is closed, and the shipment of inland enterprises is not smooth. Methanol inventory pressure does not decrease, depress the price trend. Additionally, tax cuts began on April 1, and the industry’s expectations for the long-term trend were low. At present, the market lacks good stimulation and the futures price of methanol has fallen sharply. In the later stage, the overhaul of the production unit is concentrated or the methanol is driven upward. In the short term, we should pay attention to whether methanol can fall below the target of 2450.

I. Reduction of Transport Expenses

Recently, due to the impact of lower transport costs, the cost of methanol delivery has been reduced. Domestic methanol freight has continued to fall by 10-50 yuan/ton. However, the enthusiasm of downstream enterprises to take goods has not improved. Maintaining just needed procurement is the main task, and the turnover is weakened. The freight rates of Inner Mongolia North Line to North Shandong refer to 160-200 yuan/ton; South Line to North Shandong refer to 160-170 yuan/ton; Shanxi part to North Shandong 100-110 yuan/ton; Guanzhong to North Shandong refer to 90-120 yuan/ton, to South Shandong 90-120 yuan/ton; Xinjiang to North Shandong refer to 610 yuan/ton.

II. Closing of Arbitrage Window

In March, the price gap between the coastal methanol market and the mainland market converged sharply, and the arbitrage window closed gradually, which hindered the mainland manufacturers from discharging goods to a certain extent. The flow of domestic goods to coastal areas has been reduced. Enterprises are mainly active in delivering goods, and some of the quotations have been adjusted.

3. Downward trend of spot weakness

In the early stage, the trend of methanol in the mainland was strong, and the coastal market was difficult to ascend. Recent domestic methanol spot market trend has changed, the mainland narrowly declined, and the coastal market center of gravity has increased. Parking and maintenance of downstream devices in some areas, formaldehyde enterprises in Shandong Province started to decline significantly, and downstream enterprises have resistance to high-price supply. The market climate has cooled down, and the enterprises in the main production area sign orders smoothly, but the shipment situation is general, which is not as good as the previous level, and some manufacturers’quotations are narrowly adjusted. The futures market suffered a setback, the confidence of market participants was hit, the operation was cautious, and the methanol market lacked volume. At the beginning of the week, enterprises in the main production areas of Northwest China offered few quotations and took a wait-and-see attitude.

IV. The Outer Plate is Steady and Rising

The global methanol market rose steadily, the Asian region consolidated steadily, and the European and American regions continued to catch up. The methanol outer disc of China shows interval arrangement. But the spot arrival in Hong Kong is still in demand. The rest of Asia is mostly in stable consolidation: South Korea lacks real transaction information; Taiwan is running steadily and lacks large fluctuations; there is still a supply gap in non-main ports in Southeast Asia; and India’s demand is tepid. The methanol market in Europe and the United States continued to rise, which was affected by some Venezuelan plants’parking and maintenance and slightly limited outgoing shipments. The market in the United States continued to rise, but two sets of local methanol plants with an overall capacity of 2.75 million tons/year resumed stable operation in the United States. The European region also rose steadily and positively, with a few important factories filling empty deliveries and the focus of delivery rising.

Fifth, the decline of industry start-up

The start-up load of domestic methanol unit is 70.42%, which is 0.92% lower than that of the ring-to-ring ratio; the start-up load of Northwest China is 79.10%, which is 1.36% lower than that of the ring-to-ring ratio. Although some methanol plants in Shandong and Hebei have resumed operation, some of the methanol plants matched with olefins in Northwest China have stopped or reduced their load, and the start-up level of methanol has declined. In the latter stage, the number of overhauls increased and the operating load of methanol plant decreased further.

6. Slow stock digestion

The olefin plant just needs to be stable, but the traditional demand performance is not good, and the overall demand for methanol is low. Some imported and domestic cargo arrived and discharged, but the volume of discharged cargo was shrinking actively, and inventory continued to rise. The inventory of methanol port is slowly digested and continuously accumulated, increasing to 1.13 million tons, a new high in the year, approaching the peak of 11.516 million tons in September 2016, and the overall available supply is estimated to be around 278,000 tons. Downstream enterprises mainly take goods on demand, procurement is not active, the effect of inventory removal is not ideal. The high inventory of methanol ports has depressed the trend of methanol.

On March 17, the ammonium nitrate commodity index was 107.02, which was the same as yesterday. It was 9.63% lower than the cyclical peak of 118.42 points (2019-01-15), and 38.32% higher than the lowest point of 77.37 on October 31, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2013-02-01 to date)

Recently, the price trend of domestic ammonium nitrate Market has maintained a low level. Affected by environmental protection control, domestic ammonium nitrate plants shut down more, and domestic ammonium nitrate plants started less. However, with the warming of the weather recently, the influence of northern air limitation disappeared. In addition, due to the complete shutdown of domestic downstream civil explosion industry, domestic ammonium nitrate manufacturers have more stockpiles and the price trend in the field has declined. As of the 14th, domestic ammonium nitrate market price negotiations in 1900-2100 yuan/ton, affected by environmental protection, so now many manufacturers in many areas are forced to limit production or stop production and maintenance to accept environmental protection inspection, the price trend of ammonium nitrate on the site is weak.

Recently, the domestic nitric acid price trend is temporarily stable, up to 18 days, the market price is 1560 yuan/ton. The stable trend of nitric acid price has little effect on the ammonium nitrate market, while the price trend of ammonium nitrate has slightly declined. The price trend of upstream raw material liquid ammonia has risen slightly, up to 18 days, the market price of liquid ammonia is 3240 yuan/ton. The rising trend of upstream raw material price has a certain positive impact on the ammonium nitrate market. Ammonium nitrate market price trend slightly lower. At the end of the peak season of the downstream civil explosion industry recently, the demand for ammonium nitrate has weakened and the stocks of ammonium nitrate manufacturers have increased, but the liquid ammonia market is on the rise again. The ammonium nitrate Market has slightly declined due to the bad market. Ammonium nitrate analysts believe that the price of raw materials in the upstream market has risen slightly in the near future, but the demand in the downstream market is not good. They expect that the market price of ammonium nitrate in the later period will decrease slightly.

Core view

In the medium and long term, spring inspection of foreign installations has been carried out one after another, and the depot of ports in the future is expected to be speeded up.

Next week, the focus will be on the 600,000 tons MTO plant of Jiutai Phase II in Inner Mongolia. If it can be put into operation smoothly near March 20, the circulation supply of both the northwest inland and Shandong market will be further reduced, which should be a great advantage for methanol demand.

It is expected that by the end of March, with the gradual implementation of spring inspection of upstream units and the launch of new MTO devices, methanol is expected to rise again, MA1905 reference range 2500-2650.

Bulk internal reference: What do you think of the recent volatility of methanol?

Zhao Fei: Recently, the overall fluctuation of methanol has been relatively large. It has risen sharply at the beginning of the month and once approached the limit. On the one hand, the overall atmosphere of chemical products has improved. On the other hand, the market is more satisfied with the anticipated spring inspection of installations in March-May and future port depot, which makes the methanol in the mainland stronger and makes the arbitrage windows of the mainland and ports closed, and drives the price focus of the port to move up. However, under the influence of external factors, downstream profits shrink sharply, which makes the traditional downstream and emerging downstream start-up rates fall to a certain extent, the continuous outflow of overlapping hedging sources, futures prices show a trend of soaring and falling.

Volume internal reference: When do you think this increase in methanol will last? Can you give us an analysis of the following market?

Zhao Fei: At present, the trend of methanol is basically in line with our expectations at the beginning of this month.

Supply side

Mainly concerned about the spring inspection of upstream units and the impact of production limitation of coke oven gas units, which mainly concentrated in late March to May. Some coal head units in Northwest China will take the lead in overhaul, including Rongxin 900,000-ton unit in Inner Mongolia, Jiutai 1 million-ton unit and Shanxi Tongshan 600,000-ton unit, involving more than 6 million tons of production capacity, and will gradually be realized in late March. In addition, due to the influence of Linfen in Shanxi Province on the production restriction of coking enterprises, including Shanxi Coking, Hongyuan in Shanxi Province and Wanxinda in Shanxi Province, the methanol plant from coke oven gas stopped for about one month at the end of February, with an estimated capacity of about 800,000 tons, which has been basically realized.

Inventory aspects

With the recent narrowing of the price gap between China and Southeast Asia and the gradual closure of the entrepot window, the inventory of Eastern China’s methanol ports increased significantly this week due to the arrival of some large vessels. The total inventory increased to 648,000 tons, an increase of 48,000 tons annually. Among them, the weekly inventory of Taicang area increased by 35,000 tons, while the overall circulatable methanol supply in coastal areas (Jiangsu, Zhejiang and South China) was near 440,000 tons, which was at a high level in the year. The short-term pressure of depot removal was still high. In the medium and long term, spring inspection of foreign installations was also carried out, and depot removal of ports was expected to accelerate in the future.

Demand side

With the gradual recovery of MTO profits, 69,000 tons MTO plant in Xingxing, Zhejiang Province and 200,000 tons ethylene plant in Central China started operation one after another, injecting a dose of cardiac needle into the weak downstream market. The olefin start-up rate has approached 80%, reaching a medium to high level. However, after March, due to the fall of olefin prices again, profits of MTO units in East China and MTP units in Shandong have fallen sharply, and some units have continued to suffer losses. It has been heard that Lianhong Chemical Industry in Shandong Province and Yangmei Hengtong have plans to reduce their downtime. We believe that olefin prices are expected to rebound in the later period, MTO profits will gradually be repaired, and the start-up rate is expected to return to normal again. Next week, the focus will be on the 600,000 tons MTO plant of Jiutai Phase II in Inner Mongolia. If it can be put into operation smoothly near March 20, the circulation supply of both the northwest inland and Shandong market will be further reduced, which should be a great advantage for methanol demand.

Overall, due to the unpredictable depot removal and downstream profit contraction leading to the decline in start-up, in the short term, methanol will continue to weaker recovery trend. It is expected that by the end of March, with the gradual implementation of the spring inspection of upstream devices and the launch of new MTO devices, methanol is expected to rise again, MA1905 reference interval 2500-2650.

Bulk internal reference: methanol and fuel fell simultaneously, is it a positive correlation or coincidence? The future trend of methanol also asks you to share the strategy.

Zhao Fei: I think it’s more coincidence. According to the correlation analysis, the correlation between methanol and fuel in the past month is only 0.172, which is obviously weak. The main reason is that the fuel oil itself belongs to the heavy oil after the light oil was put forward in crude oil processing. From the point of view of the industrial chain process, it is closely related to the price transmission of crude oil. From the recent trend of methanol and fuel oil, the trend of methanol is more dependent on the change of fundamentals, and the correlation between methanol and fuel oil is further reduced.

Since this year, the main futures price of PVC has mostly oscillated in the range of 6300-6600 yuan/ton. At present, the multi-empty factors in the market continue to play a game, and it is expected that short-term PVC will be difficult to get out of the trend.

According to the recently released economic data, the world’s major economies are facing downward pressure. The Federal Reserve’s Brown Paper shows that the U.S. economy grew in January and February, but half of the country was affected by 35 days of partial government closures, so the economy cooled in the first two months of 2019. Employment and inflation data also performed poorly. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor show that the number of non-farm workers in the United States increased by 20,000 in February, significantly lower than expected and the previous value, hitting a 17-month low. The U.S. unemployment rate is 3.8% in February and is expected to be 3.9%. The data are still good, but there is little room for the unemployment rate to continue to decline. CPI in February increased by 1.5% year-on-year, the smallest increase in two and a half years. PPI in February rose by 1.9% year-on-year, the lowest level since June 2017. In addition, the manufacturing PMI in the euro area was 49.3 in February, a 68-month low. ECB President Draghi said the outlook for recent economic growth was weaker than expected. The domestic economy is also weak, including the official manufacturing industry PMI continued to fall below the boom and bust line in February, the import and export data declined sharply in February, the industrial added value and the total retail sales growth of social consumer goods continued to decline in January-February, and so on. The global economic downturn has depressed market confidence.

However, in the context of such economic pressures, the global monetary market has a slightly relaxed trend in recent years. The European Central Bank said it expected to keep interest rates unchanged at least until the end of 2019 and announced the launch of a third round of targeted long-term refinancing operations in September. The Federal Reserve took a biased stance in January’s interest rate meeting and signalled the end of the scale to the market. Recent weak employment and moderate inflation data may further support the Fed’s patience in raising interest rates. Because the Fed’s attitude toward monetary policy has changed, it also gives China’s money market some room for relaxation. The shift of global monetary policy from neutral tightening to marginal relaxation may have a boosting effect on commodities.

Fundamentals are mixed, and upstream cost support is enhanced. At present, OPEC continues to reduce production. Venezuela National Petroleum Corporation’s exports are interrupted due to power outages, the U.S. crude oil stocks are unexpectedly reduced, and the recent US dollar pressure has brought a positive boost to oil prices. It is expected that the short-term trend of crude oil is strong, which will form a supporting role for chemical products. Crude oil has continued to rise since its inception, and domestic calcium carbide prices have continued to rise slowly since mid-January. Wind data show that as of March 13, the mid-arrival price of calcium carbide in East China is 3350 yuan/ton, and the profit of PVC production by calcium carbide method is about 316 yuan/ton, which is about 434 yuan/ton lower than that in mid-January. Recently, due to the arrival of spring overhaul and environmental protection inspection in some areas, it is expected that the price of electrochemical industry will still rise. As costs continue to rise, profits are gradually compressed, and the production enthusiasm of PVC enterprises may be suppressed. In fact, in recent years, Tianjin Dagu, Qingdao Haijing and other devices are being overhauled. Ningxia Jinyuyuan New Factory, Taizhou Liancheng and Yibin Tianyuan plan to start the overhaul in mid or late March. Therefore, the probability of short-term PVC start-up will continue to improve is relatively small.

Cost side and supply side are favorable, and the pressure of PVC mainly comes from high inventory and weak purchasing enthusiasm downstream. According to Wind data, as of March 8, the upstream inventory of PVC was about 614,000 tons, which was significantly lower than the high level after the Spring Festival, but still in the same period of nearly three years. Warehouses, traders and downstream stocks showed no significant signs of digestion. Total social inventory has been accumulating continuously since mid-January. As of March 8, social inventory has increased by nearly 20% compared with that after the Spring Festival. Strong inventory pressure limits the upward trend of PVC futures price. On the demand side, although downstream start-up rate continues to increase, and with the coming of the peak season, downstream start-up rate still has some room to improve. However, in the face of high social inventory and uncertainty of the future market, the enthusiasm of factory procurement is still low, just need to purchase. When downstream demand fully recovers, if inventory can be quickly digested, PVC may have a wave of rising market, but at present, the digestion of inventory pressure remains to be observed.

Generally speaking, the weak operation of the global economy has depressed commodities, but in the context of economic downward pressure, the capital has relaxed, which may give a boost to commodity markets. Fundamentally, PVC is expected to be supported by rising costs and demand, and is facing high inventory pressure above. Macroscopic and basic aspects are interwoven, and short-term PVC is expected to remain in a dilemma.

On March 12, the phthalic anhydride commodity index was 66.50, down 0.33 points from yesterday, down 44.64% from the peak of 120.13 points in the cycle (2012-02-28), up 37.34% from the low of 48.42 points on January 21, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2011-09-01 to date).

Recently, the domestic market price trend of phthalic anhydride is temporarily stable, the market of phthalic anhydride in eastern China is weak and consolidated, downstream factories are just in need of purchasing, the inventory pressure of factories is persistent, high-end transactions are blocked, the mainstream of on-site neighbouring method source negotiation is 6600-6900 yuan/ton, and the mainstream of naphthalene method source negotiation is 6500-6600 yuan/ton; the mainstream quotation of phthalic anhydride market in northern China is 6500-6800 yuan/ton, and the Main, the quotation trend of enterprises has slightly declined, downstream construction is not high, purchase on demand is the main, wait-and-see mentality is strong, domestic phthalic anhydride plant operation is stable, phthalic anhydride spot supply is normal, the market is not good, phthalic anhydride price trend remains weak.

Recently, the executive price of the upstream product of phthalic anhydride, Sinopec o-phthalic anhydride, is 6800 yuan/ton. The actual market transaction price is 7100 yuan/ton. The quotation is stable and the port is out of stock. Upstream raw materials mixed xylene price shocks maintain stability, phthalic turnover is general, port phthalic inventory is low, phthalic external quotation rises, import phthalic cost rises, the actual transaction price talks in detail, upstream price trend is stable, phthalic anhydride market prices remain volatile. DOP price downstream shocks. Recently, in Zhejiang DOP market, merchants’quotations are maintained at 8650-8700 yuan/ton, while downstream prices are at a low level. Demand for upstream phthalic anhydride is limited, and the market price of phthalic anhydride is slightly lower. It is expected that the market price of phthalic anhydride will be around 6800 yuan/ton in the later period.

On March 11, the PX Commodity Index was 72.00, unchanged from yesterday, down 29.69% from its peak of 102.40 points in the cycle (2013-02-28), and up 58.07% from its low of 45.55 points on February 15, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2013-02-01 to date).

Recently, the domestic market price trend of p-xylene has been temporarily stable. Pengzhou Petrochemical Plant has been running steadily. Urumqi Petrochemical Plant has started 50% of its operation. Fuhaichuang Aromatic Hydrocarbon Plant has started a line. CNOOC Huizhou Refinery and Chemical Plant has been overhauled. Other units have been running steadily for the time being. The domestic market supply of p-xylene is normal. The market price trend of p-xylene is temporarily stable. The opening rate of PX plant in Asia is about 80%. On March 11, the closing price of p-xylene in Asia increased by 3 US dollars/ton. The closing price is US$109-1101/ton FOB Korea and US$118-1120/ton CFR in China. More than 50% of the domestic units need to be imported. The decline of foreign prices has a positive and negative impact on the domestic market price of p-xylene, and the price of p-xylene in the market fluctuates.

On March 11, the price of WTI crude oil in April rose to 56.79 U.S. dollars per barrel, an increase of 0.72 U.S. dollars. The price of Brent crude oil in May rose to 66.58 U.S. dollars per barrel, an increase of 0.84 U.S. dollars. Crude oil price rose slightly, which had little impact on the price of downstream petrochemical products, while the price of paraxylene market was temporarily stable. Recent textile industry volatility, PTA prices declined on the 12th, the average price of East China bid in the vicinity of 6600-6700 yuan/ton, up to 11 domestic PTA start-up rate is about 80%, polyester industry start-up rate is about 80%, downstream production and sales rate has risen, but PTA market prices are lower, it is expected that PX market prices will remain volatile in the later period.

On March 10, the ammonium nitrate commodity index was 107.02, which was the same as yesterday. It was 9.63% lower than the cyclical peak of 118.42 points (2019-01-15), and 38.32% higher than the lowest point of 77.37 on October 31, 2016. (Note: Period refers to 2013-02-01 to date)

Recently, the price trend of domestic ammonium nitrate Market has maintained a low level. Affected by environmental protection control, domestic ammonium nitrate plants shut down more, and domestic ammonium nitrate plants started less. However, with the warming of the weather recently, the influence of northern air limitation disappeared. In addition, due to the complete shutdown of domestic downstream civil explosion industry, domestic ammonium nitrate manufacturers have more stockpiles and the price trend in the field has declined. By the end of the weekend, the domestic ammonium nitrate market price negotiations in 1900-2100 yuan/ton, affected by environmental protection, so now many manufacturers in many areas are forced to limit production or stop production and maintenance to accept environmental protection inspection, the price trend of ammonium nitrate in the field is weak.

Recently, the domestic nitric acid price trend is temporarily stable, the market price is 1550 yuan/ton on the 11th day. The stable trend of nitric acid price has little effect on the ammonium nitrate market, and the price trend of ammonium nitrate has slightly declined. The price trend of upstream raw material liquid ammonia has risen slightly, and the market price of liquid ammonia on the 11th day is 3016.67 yuan/ton. The rising trend of upstream raw material price has a certain positive impact on the ammonium nitrate market. Ammonium nitrate market price trend slightly lower. At the end of the peak season of the downstream civil explosion industry recently, the demand for ammonium nitrate has weakened and the stocks of ammonium nitrate manufacturers have increased, but the liquid ammonia market is on the rise again. The ammonium nitrate Market has slightly declined due to the bad market. Ammonium nitrate analysts believe that the price of raw materials in the upstream market has risen slightly in the near future, but the demand in the downstream market is not good. They expect that the market price of ammonium nitrate in the later period will decrease slightly.

According to the preliminary statistics of the Chinese Customs, in February 2019, China exported 1.342 million tons of mineral fertilizers and chemical fertilizers (excluding ammonium chloride, potassium nitrate and organic fertilizers for animals and plants, the same below), an increase of 53.4% over the same period of last year, and an increase of 69.0% over the same period of last year, amounting to US$379 million.

From January to February, China exported 3.524 million tons of mineral fertilizers and chemical fertilizers, an increase of 59.6% over the same period last year, and the cumulative export amount was $992 million, an increase of 84.9% over the same period last year.

In terms of fertilizer imports, China imported 11.9 million tons of minerals and chemical fertilizers in February 2019, amounting to US$370 million. The main imported fertilizers in China are potassium chloride and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium ternary compound fertilizers.

From January to February, China imported 2.471 million tons of minerals and chemical fertilizers, an increase of 6.0% over the same period last year, and the total import amount was $773 million, an increase of 26.5% over the same period last year.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on March 8, China exported 688,000 tons of coke in February, an increase of 41,000 tons, an increase of 6.3%, and a decrease of 28,000 tons, a decrease of 3.9%.

Coke exports in February were $225.4 million, up 14.2% year-on-year and 9.9% year-on-year. Based on this, the unit export price is estimated to be 327.6 US dollars per ton, up 41.2 US dollars per ton annually and 22.5 US dollars per ton annually.

From January to February 2019, China exported 1.44 million tons of coke, an increase of 5.3% over the same period last year; the cumulative export amount was US$430.3 million, an increase of 8.8% over the same period last year.