Thermal coal

Production area Except for several mines in overhaul or longwall change, most mines continued normal operations. Chemical and metallurgical plants maintained steady purchases, while spot buyers became more active in restocking, buoyed by increased portside prices and winter restocking. This attracted increased coal trucks to some mines, and several miners therefore raised offer prices. But most mines still reported ordinary sales, especially those in Yuyang, Shaanxi continued to face selling pressure. Miners noted coal trucks didn't increase notably and the strength for further price increase was not strong enough.

Northern port Spot offers at northern were mixed. Coal sales increased yet most can't be concluded at high prices. Market participants reckoned elevated coal stocks were the key to current lukewarm market, and this round of price increase was mainly sentiment-driven, giving chances for traders to clear stocks.

Import market Spot offers for Indonesian coal edged up slightly, following rebounds in China's domestic market. Only a few trades were heard done at high prices, due to losses that may incur compared to Chinese utilities' tender awarded prices. Panamax 3,800 Kcal/kg NAR coal was offered at $61-62/t FOB.

Coking coal

Many coking coal mines halted production as safety inspections increased following frequent accidents, leading to production declines. Coke-making losses exacerbated as feed coal prices mostly jumped by 200-300 yuan/t, overshadowing the growth of the first round of coke price increase. This limited coking plants' acceptance for high-priced coking coal. Participants also considered it unlikely for prices to drop in the short run, given pre-sold orders and tight supply.

Australian coking coal prices further climbed, buoyed by continued purchases from overseas buyers. On Nov 23, low-vol hard coking coal for Dec-laycan rose to $320/t FOB. That translates to around 2,737 yuan/t CFR China with VAT, 70 yuan/t higher than same-quality domestic coal.

Met coke

Coke producers proposed to raise coke prices by 100-110 yuan/t for the second round, which hasn't been accepted by key steelmakers yet. Coke-making cost surged amid strong rally of coking coal prices, prompting more producers to curb production. With acceptable profitability, steel mills continued high production and some are even about to run out of stocks. Coke prices are expected to stay firm in the short run amid tightening fundamentals and growing cost support.