India’s Coal Imports Rise 29% To 24.14 Million Tonnes In June

India’s coal imports increased by 28.7 percent to 24.14 million tonnes in June on the back of softening of non-coking coal prices in the international market.

The country had imported 18.75 million tonnes of coal in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal, according to a provisional compilation by mjunction Services Ltd., based on monitoring of vessels’ positions and data received from shipping companies.

mjunction—a joint venture of Tata Steel Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd.—is a business-to-business e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

Commenting on the import trend, mjunction Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vinaya Varma said, “There was a softening of non-coking coal prices in the international markets which led to a modest increase in import volumes during the month. Although coal stocks at power plants continue to remain sufficient, the slackness in domestic production and low monsoon rainfall may lead to continued growth in imports in coming months.”

India’s coal import during June through the major and non-major ports is estimated to have increased by 2.42 percent over May 2019.

“Imports during June 2019 stood at 24.14 ,MT (provisional) as compared to 23.57 MT (revised) imported in May 2019,” mjunction said.

The provisional figure for the month of May 2019 was 24.04 MT. Of the total import during June 2019, non-coking coal was at 16.90 MT, against 16.34 MT imported in May 2019. Coking coal import was at 4.38 MT in June 2019, up from 4.19 MT imported a month ago.

Metallurgical coke import during the month was at 0.32 MT, against 0.24 MT in the previous month.