DAILY: China's coking coal stays weak amid tepid demand

China's spot coking coal market remained weak on January 27, since tepid downstream demand continued reining in overall transactions. However, expected mine halts and stable blast furnace operations at steel mills are likely to check further downside for the coking coal market going forward.

On Tuesday, Mysteel's assessment of the national composite coking coal price sat at Yuan 1,299.2/tonne ($186.8/t) including the 13% VAT, losing another Yuan 2.7/t from the last session. Trading activity for the feed coal remained subdued yesterday, reflecting market buyers' caution about building up coal stockpiles amid downstream market weakness.