Thermal coal

Production area Thermal coal demand remained lukewarm at main production areas and prices were held steady as a whole despite individual minor adjustments. Some mines slowed production as they are close to complet annual targets. Frequent safety inspections also impacted supply to some extent. Miners did not face inventory pressure for price-competitive coal due to smooth dispatches. A few miners even slightly raised prices. However, most miners reported slow sales after traders reduced purchases amid the weakened port-side market. The near-term prices are expected to stay flat due to weak supply and demand.

Northern port The port-side market didn't change much. Traders kept offer prices firm, while downstream users remained inactive in inquiries, leading to subdued transactions. Some participants said it remained unprofitable to transport coal to ports due to high coal stocks at ports despite slightly weakened mine-mouth prices. The overall trading activities are expected to remain slack in the following days, owing to thick wait-and-see among participants during the ongoing national coal trade fair.

Import market Seaborne freight rate rose dramatically, but the CFR China prices did not follow the trend. Importers said as FOB offers were mostly index-linked and transactions were hard to reach. They tended to wait until the freight rates return to normal levels.

Coking coal

Due to safety inspections, there were some mines that intermittently suspended production, resulting in ongoing supply constraints, although other mines gradually resumed operations. Sentiment slightly retreated amid the ongoing price tussle between coke producers and steelmakers and the decline in the futures market. Coking plants reduced purchases and mostly only maintained rigid demand. Some online auctions were also settled slightly lower. However, most miners did not face sales pressure and their coal stocks hovered at a comparatively low level. The short-term coking coal prices are expected to be range-bound under rigid demand.

China's Ganqimaodu border port only let in 747 trucks of Mongolian coal on December 5, affected by the customs network breakdown. Mongolian coking coal prices gained support from continued rise in short-haul transportation fee. As a result, offer prices from traders remained firm, with Mongolian 5# raw coal at 1,700-1,780 yuan/t, ex-stock with VAT, even though the actual transactions were not strong.

Met coke

Major coke producers proposed to raise coke prices for the third round, yet steelmakers did not give a response. Most coking plants struggled at the break-even point following the previous two rounds of price increases and were not inactive in further raising production. Only a few producers that had aggressively cut production planned to moderately raise production. This, coupled with environmental checks, contributed to slow recovery of coke supply. Sentiment was weighed down by the seasonal weakness in steel market and the consecutive fall of the futures market. Some traders started to ease their positions to secure profit, boosting coke arrivals at mills. Low-stocked mills still presented resilient restocking demand, which may continue to shore up the coke market in the near term.