China's coking coal futures prices fell for a sixth straight session on September 24 to hit an over five-month low due to weak demand for the steelmaking raw material, amid production curbs on steel and coke ahead of China's National Day celebrations.

The most-traded coking coal on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January 2020 delivery, slumped as much as 3.8% to 1,246.50 yuan/t ($175.12/t), its weakest since April 19 this year.

Major steelmaking districts in Hebei province plan to slash output in the last week of September to improve air quality ahead of celebrations in Beijing for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Hebei, which surrounds the capital, faces a sustained period of "unfavourable" weather that makes it harder to disperse smog, documents reviewed by Reuters show, triggering more stringent industry curbs starting from September 22.

Prices of seaborne thermal and coking coal in China have declined by around 30% year-on-year, mainly driven by reduced demand, said Helen Lau, metals and mining analyst at Argonaut Securities.

China's coking coal purchases, meanwhile, have been "quite strong", surging 20% to 53 million tonnes in the first eight months of this year, after a brief period of import control in November and December last year, she said.

"Overall, there will be some short-term price consolidation ahead," Lau said. "Hopefully, the import control will help stabilize domestic prices, but seaborne prices may suffer."

Prices of other steelmaking ingredients also drifted lower, with Dalian coke dropping as much as 2.2% to 1,920.50 yuan/t.

(Writing by Emma Yang  Editing by Jessie Jia)
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