DAILY: China's thermal coal prices stay firm during holiday

China's portside thermal coal prices held firm over the Labour Day holiday (15 May), underpinned by sustained downstream procurement as buyers extended restocking through the break. However, the proactive buying also helped prevent a sharper price rally afterward.

As of May 3, offers for benchmark 5,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal were heard at around Yuan 810-815/tonne ($118.8-119.5/t) FOB northern ports with VAT, up from Yuan 800-810/t on April 30, the last trading day before the holiday. Mysteel had assessed the same grade at Yuan 806/t at end-April. With