WEEKLY: China's met coal trades stagnant as bearishness prevails

The metallurgical coal transactions in the Chinese market stagnated over December 23-27, as the bearish mood prevailed among participants due to negative signals from downstream coke and steel markets.

The national composite coking coal price under Mysteel's assessment moved lower by Yuan 44.1/tonne ($6.04/t) on week to Yuan 1,299.8/t including the 13% VAT by December 27. In the past week, the domestic steel market still lacked sufficient strength to rebound, which prompted more mills to conduct maintenance stoppages and