The new coke? Carbonyx is a Texas-based company founded eight years ago to make added-value carbon-based products from a patented process. It has introduced Cokonyx™, which it describes as an economically viable and environmentally responsible replacement for traditional coke in steelmaking and other metallurgical processes. Cokonyx is formed from coal as a base material, but this is blended with a range of other carbonaceous materials at various points in the synthesis process. Standard coke for ironmaking can only be made from high-quality metallurgical coal mined in certain parts of the world, and its price has been soaring. BHP Billiton recently secured a price increase of over 200% for a coking coal contract with Nippon Steel, at $300/tonne. One steelmaker that is showing faith in Cokonyx is US Steel, which announced in April that it was investing over $150m to build a production facility in Port of Epes, Alabama. After the...