DAILY: China's thermal coal market shows signs of leveling off

China's spot thermal coal prices extended their gains on May 29, but market sentiment began to cool as the recent rally had largely priced in supply disruption fears stemming from the accident. Further upside looked increasingly challenging, with several bearish factors starting to take hold.

On Friday, Mysteel assessed 5,500 kcal/kg, 5,000 kcal/kg and 4,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal prices at Yuan 854/tonne ($126.2/t), Yuan 766/t and Yuan 671/t FOB northern ports with VAT, respectively, all up by Yuan 3/t from a day earlier. The rally that began on May 22 had driven the