DAILY: Chinese thermal coal prices remain weak amid tepid demand

China's spot thermal coal market continued to exhibit weakness on March 17, although prices were temporarily holding steady overall. Downstream buyers largely stayed on the sidelines, keeping market activity in a deadlock.

On Monday, Mysteel assessed 5,500 kcal/kg, 5,000 kcal/kg, and 4,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal at Yuan 690/tonne ($95.4/t), Yuan 600/t, and Yuan 525/t, respectively, FOB northern transfer ports with VAT, unchanged from last Friday. Spot steam coal trading liquidity at northern ports remained sluggish yesterday. While some traders attempted to