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December 02: Various views on coke futures – GF Futures: The progress in reducing coke production capacity has further tightened the supply and demand for coke. In the spot market, most steel mills have not yet agreed to the eighth round of price increases. Currently, the prevailing price for quasi-first-class wet quenching coke in the Shanxi region is around 2,000–2,130 yuan per ton. On the port side, spot supply remains tight, and the profits associated with goods arriving at the ports are low; as a result, traders are cautious in their operations. Currently, the prevailing spot price for first-grade metallurgical coke at ports is around 2300 yuan per ton. The cost of a quasi-first-class warehouse receipt in Rizhao is 2,380 yuan per ton, with the futures price being 155 yuan higher than the spot price. On the demand side: the operating rate of blast furnaces remained roughly unchanged on a week-on-week basis this week. November remains a peak period for demand in the downstream sector, and it is expected that blast furnace operations will remain at high levels. Inventory: Inventory levels at coking plants are declining more slowly, while inventories at steel mills and ports are rising. The inventory of coke for the 230 sample companies was 60.35, a decrease of 15,000 tons. The coke inventory at 110 sampled steel mills was 466, up by 0.47. Coke port inventory 236, down 3. Supply: On the supply side, plans to phase out coking production capacity are being implemented rigorously in various regions recently. In the Henan region, the total capacity affected amounts to 6.95 million tons, and some coking companies have already announced that they will cease shipments ； Some coking enterprises in the Handan area of Hebei have received orders to stop receiving coal, further exacerbating the shortage of coke supply. Profit: The average profit per ton of coke produced by coke plants across the country is 530 yuan, an increase of 5 yuan per ton compared to last week. View: Based on the data, coking coal production and inventory have increased on a month-on-month basis, with profits remaining high. However, some coking capacity in North China has not yet been shut down, and the production of blast furnaces in the downstream sector has seen a ** change on a month-on-month basis. The tight inventory situation of coking coal in Shanxi region remains unchanged. Pre-holiday stockpiling has shifted coke inventory from the production side to the demand side, leaving little room for spot prices to decline before steel mills reduce production on a seasonal basis. As the January contract approaches delivery, it is expected to move in a stronger, volatile manner as it enters the delivery month. The spread between prices at 1 and 5 contracts has narrowed significantly, with profits in the market remaining high. This year’s Spring Festival falls in mid-February, and stockpiling ahead of the festival has acted as a positive factor for the May contracts; the rise in prices for May has already helped to reduce some of the basis differences as well as the positive expectations, so it is advisable to approach long positions cautiously.