China Oct coke export down to a 2-yr low

China’s coke export dropped to a 2-year low of 526 thousand tonnes in October, with a breathtaking decrease of 846.8 thousand tonnes from Sep, as impacted by weakening international market and raised export tariff.

The export price also hit a new low of $609 per tonne, falling $11 from last month, the first decline since October 2006.

Amid international financial turmoil, economic slowdown and production cuts of steel mills worldwide, the export coke price is expected to down further, said analysts.

Total export in Jan-Oct period dropped 1.577 million tonnes, or 11.99% year on year to 11.57 million tonnes, valued 5,529 million dollars, up 123.33% from that of 2007.

China this year issued 12.06 million tonnes of coke export quota, of which 11.265 million tonnes was utilized in first ten months.

Coke export is forecast to be less than 13 million tonnes in 2008, falling 15% from the previous year.