DAILY: China's thermal coal prices hold steady, yet cost support remains

China's spot thermal coal prices held largely steady on May 15, as buying interest showed no signs of improvement, with most utilities still focused on long-term contract cargoes. Traders, however, kept offers firm, drawing support from solid cost fundamentals and expectations of a demand recovery later this month.

On Friday, Mysteel assessed 5,500 kcal/kg, 5,000 kcal/kg, and 4,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal at Yuan 835/tonne ($122.5/t), Yuan 748/t, and Yuan 651/t, respectively, FOB northern ports with VAT, all unchanged for five consecutive trading sessions. Recently, railway authorities scrapped part of the freight tariff discounts on certain routes to