Production Raw coal output from 227 surveyed coking coal mines under 88 enterprises stood at 8.82 Mt over the period, down 159.9 Kt WoW, with the average capacity utilization down 1.58 pps to 87.36%. This week more coking coal mines cut or suspended production in the wake of completion of annual output goals and due to priority of ensuring safety around the end of a year.

Price Among these surveyed mines, no mine raised price, while 40 mines cut prices averagely by 73 yuan/t. Coking coal miners reported sales pressure amid thicker pessimism. The failure rate of online auction stayed quite high and settlements kept falling.

Stock Steelmakers continued pressing down coke prices for the fifth round. Coke purchases were sluggish, while washing plants and traders were active in de-stocking. With slowed sales, coal stocks continued piling up. Raw coal stocks at the surveyed mines increased 88.9 Kt WoW to 3.46 Mt on Dec 25, and washed coal stocks increased 109.7 Kt to 2.69 Mt. Coke producers have stocked up to a relatively safe range, and they were unwilling to further purchase due to abundant inventories and ongoing downtrend of coking coal prices. Stocks at surveyed coking plants were 8.09 days' worth of use on average, down 0.1 day week on week.