Coal Imports Rise 40% On Restocking Demand In November
There was also a healthy growth in coking coal imports in November 2017 on a yearly basis.
Coal imports surged 40 percent to 19.18 million tonnes in November, mainly due to pick up in demand for winter restocking and low coal stock position in power plants.
“Coal import in November 2017 stood at 19.18 MT (provisional), against 13.70 MT in November 2016 and 19.77 MT in October 2017,” as per the latest data by m-junction services.
M-junction services is an online procurement, and sales platform floated jointly by state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd. and steel behemoth Tata Steel Ltd.
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The higher volume of imports is mainly due to 4.18 MT increase in non-coking coal imports during the month under review, the data showed.
There was also a healthy growth in coking coal imports in November 2017 on a yearly basis.
The demand for winter restocking and the low coal stock position at power plants led to the high volumes in non-coking coal import. Also, the uptrend in coking coal prices coupled with supply concerns saw the buyers taking new positions in that market.Vinaya Varma, CEO At M-Junction
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Coal imports witnessed a decline of 6.37 percent at 191.95 MT in 2016-17 on higher production by Coal India Ltd. that saw the country moving to a regime of surplus coal.
Coal India accounts for over 80 percent of the domestic coal production.