MONTHLY: China's thermal coal mart stays firm in April

China's market for thermal coal firmed overall throughout April, defying the traditional seasonal lull as a convergence of supply constraints, earlier-than-expected hot weather and resilient demand from industrial consumers drove prices higher. With the peak summer procurement now kicking off, the upward momentum is poised to extend into May, according to Mysteel's latest monthly report on the commodity.

The price of benchmark 5,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal traded at northern ports reached Yuan 806/tonne ($118.5/t) FOB with VAT on April 30, compared with Yuan 760/t at end-March, according to Mysteel's assessment. This also represented an on-year gain of Yuan 146/t. The average price for the entire month