DAILY: China's coking coal prices stabilise, headwinds persist

The Mysteel Coking Coal Index (MCCI), a key benchmark for China's coking coal prices, managed to stabilize on July 23 after a week-long streak of declines. Nonetheless, near-term sentiment remained largely bearish, with market participants concerned that persistent pressure from steelmakers on coke producers would eventually feed through to coking coal prices.

On Thursday, MCCI stood at Yuan 1,687.3/tonne ($249.1/t) including the 13% VAT, up Yuan 0.1/t from Wednesday following declines over the previous six trading days. Coking coal market activity showed signs of improvement yesterday, evidenced by a sharp drop in the online auction failure rate to 12.4% -- down from