DAILY: China's pithead thermal coal prices ease; port prices firm

China's pithead thermal coal prices began to lose steam on September 7 as mines that led the rally cut quotes. While prices at northern transfer ports have so far held firm, they could be weighed on later this week, given that supply tightness, the main supporting factor, is starting to abate.

Mines in Yulin, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, and Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia, largely reduced prices by Yuan 15-30/t on Monday, with some even slashing by as much as Yuan 50-80/t. "Buyers look close to their tolerance limit after successive sharp price increases, so a pullback is inevitable," a Yulin-based