China imported 3.57mn t of coking coal last month, down by 4pc from 3.72mn t in November.

China's transport ministry is expecting a big fall in travel during the lunar new year period.

Russian integrated steel producers NLMK, Severstal and MMK increased raw material production in 2020.

The country produced 30.14mn t of crude stainless steel in 2020, up by 2.51pc from 2019.

Urals-based MMK sold 5pc less steel in 2020, reaching 10.8mn t, of which 4.3mn t was hot-rolled coil (HRC), down by 3.8pc on the year.

China Taiyuan coal transaction price index stood at 143.89 points Monday, down 0.12 percent week on week.

The first shipment of iron ore from Sierra Leone's New Tonkolili Iron Ore Project set sail for China from the country's Pepel Port on Friday.

Japan's coking coal imports rose in December to an eight-month high on increased shipments from Indonesia, underpinned by the strong recovery of Japan's steel industry.