DAILY: China's thermal coal downtrend continues, sales lackluster

Spot thermal coal prices at both transfer ports and producing regions in northern China continued to fall on December 12, pressured by an ongoing imbalance between supply and demand of the fuel, according to market sources.

At northern transfer ports, trading activity of spot thermal coal remained sluggish yesterday, although sellers were scrambling to sell off their stocks, which locked themselves in a price-cutting competition with peers. With the market still in an oversupply situation, buyers continued bidding aggressively to test if sellers could accept