As of August 1, prices of most kinds of coal at Qinghuangdao port in eastern China indicated a decrease of RMB 5/mt ($1/mt) compared to one week before. However, the coking coal price at the port has remained at a high level.
Market insiders suggest that, while thermal coal prices in China are expected to trend down, domestic coking coal prices will rise further. The strength of coking coal prices is mainly due to the influence of the uptrend in the futures markets and due to the shortage of coking coal supplies in the domestic market.