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

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

The last increase was on 8 January, making this the fifth offer hike since mid-November last year of a total of €200/t.

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

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.

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.

U.S. Steel Corp. recently bought the remaining 50.1% of Big River Steel. The acquisition cost $774 million, while U.S. Steel spent about $700 million when it acquired a 49.9% stake in Big River Steel in November 2019.