DAILY: China's thermal coal rally eases as demand softens

The rally in China's spot thermal coal market cooled on June 2, with pithead prices beginning to soften while portside rates held steady. The core drivers that have underpinned the market tight near-term supply and bullish summer restocking expectations remained in place, but buying appetite at elevated prices faded noticeably, leaving the market in a stalemate.

On Tuesday, Mysteel assessed 5,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal at Yuan 858/tonne ($126.7/t) FOB northern ports with VAT, up Yuan 2/t from a day earlier. The 5,000 kcal/kg and 4,500 kcal/kg NAR each rose by Yuan 2/t to Yuan 770/t and Yuan 675/t, respectively. Prices in major producing regions began