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Affected by changes on the demand side, the upward trend in the prices of coke and coking coal futures could be disrupted. Data from Caihui’s big data platform show that as of the close on September 4, the prices of the main contracts for coke and coking coal futures had diverged from those of other black-metal products, dropping by more than 3%. It can be seen that in August, futures prices for coke and coking coal continued to rise sharply, with monthly increases of over 10% for three consecutive months. Due to the very high profits of downstream steel mills, they have postponed the maintenance of their blast furnaces during the off-season; as a result, demand for coal and coke remains high, driving up prices for both coke and coking coal. According to the China Phosphorus Coal Industry Network, on August 11, a slope collapse occurred at Luxin Coal Industry, which is controlled by Shanxi Jinneng Group, leading to stricter safety inspections across the country and a decrease in coal supply. Furthermore, as of August 15, coal transportation and loading operations at the Jing Tang Port area of Tangshan Port were completely halted, which led to increased strain on rail transport capacity and heightened expectations of rising freight costs. Supported by a series of positive factors, the spot price of coke in North China has risen by 460 yuan per ton since mid-June, while the price of Platts coking coal in Australia has increased by 51.5 dollars per ton. However, on August 18, the Dalian Commodity Exchange raised the margin requirements for coal and coking coal futures. Coupled with increasing expectations of environmental restrictions on coking plant operations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas, the 1801 contract for coking coal, which had seen a larger increase in price that week, was the first to enter a range-bound trend, its performance deteriorating compared to that of coke.