DAILY: China's thermal coal gains ground on port inventory drawdowns

China's portside thermal coal prices finally rebounded on July 31, marking their first gain after a week-long plateau that had held since July 22. The uptick was largely driven by sustained port inventory drawdowns, which tightened prompt supply and spurred short-covering demand.

Last Friday, Mysteel assessed 5,500 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal at northern ports at Yuan 826/tonne ($122.4/t) FOB with VAT, up Yuan 1/t from Thursday. The 5,000 kcal/kg NAR grade also rose Yuan 1/t to Yuan 736/t, while the 4,500 kcal/kg NAR grade gained Yuan 2/t to Yuan 644/t. Assessments