DAILY: China's coking coal outlook stays bearish on steel market weakness

China's near-term coking coal market outlook stayed bearish on July 24, as market sources expect demand for the raw material to weaken further amid production curbs at the country's leading steelmaking hub, which are set to lower hot metal output.

Last Friday, Mysteel Coking Coal Index (MCCI), which tracks coking coal prices nationwide in China, settled at Yuan 1,685.1/tonne ($248.9/t) including the 13% VAT. That marked a daily decline of Yuan 2.2/t, following a marginal uptick of Yuan 0.1/t seen on Thursday. End-users such as coking plants and steel mills