The second round of coke price cuts has been implemented. The coke procurement prices of large steel mills in Hebei have been reduced, with a decrease of 50 yuan/mt for wet quenched coke and 55 yuan/mt for coke dry quenching. The specific situation after adjustment is as follows: Grade 1 wet quenched coke (A≤12.5, S≤0.7, CSR≥65, MT≤7) is priced at 1,410 yuan/mt; Grade 1 coke dry quenching (A≤12.5, S≤0.7, CSR≥65, MT≤0) is priced at 1,625 yuan/mt. The above prices are tax-inclusive, delivered to the mill and payable upon acceptance, effective from 0:00 on May 28, 2025.

[Ministry of Finance: From January to April, China Issued 1,492.7 Billion Yuan in New Local Government Bonds] According to data from the Ministry of Finance, from January to April 2025, China issued 1,492.7 billion yuan in new local government bonds nationwide, including 302.3 billion yuan in general bonds and 1,190.4 billion yuan in special bonds. A total of 2,042.7 billion yuan in refinancing bonds were issued nationwide, including 248.6 billion yuan in general bonds and 1,794.1 billion yuan in special bonds. The total amount of local government bonds issued nationwide reached 3,535.4 billion yuan, including 550.9 billion yuan in general bonds and 2,984.5 billion yuan in special bonds. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, as of month-end April 2025, the outstanding balance of local government debt nationwide was 50,693.1 billion yuan. This includes 17,069.2 billion yuan in general debt and 33,623.9 billion yuan in special debt; 50,532.7 billion yuan in government bonds, and 160.4 billion yuan in outstanding government debt in non-government bond form.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) held its monthly press conference in March, releasing the Global Economic and Trade Friction Index for 2024 and January 2025. Data showed that the value of global economic and trade friction measures in January 2025 increased by 8.3% YoY. In terms of the composite index, the Global Economic and Trade Friction Index for January was 106, with the value of global economic and trade friction measures up 8.3% YoY and 1.8% MoM. From the perspective of industry indices, the electronics industry led the Global Economic and Trade Friction Index in January. CCPIT spokesperson Yang Fan stated that in January this year, the US, along with Japan and India, once again ranked among the top three countries in the Global Economic and Trade Friction Index.

Since this year, China has introduced fiscal policies such as tax cuts and fee cuts, new local special debt, and optimization of fiscal expenditure, providing support for stabilizing the economic Political base.

A new batch of new local debt quotas has been issued to the provincial finance department recently. Theoretically, the maximum amount that can be issued in this batch is about 1.9 trillion yuan, of which 0.3 trillion yuan is general debt and 1.6 trillion yuan is special debt. It was also learned that the regulatory authorities have not yet put forward requirements on the time limit for issuance and use.