Firm global prices impact coal imports

New Delhi: India's coal import registered a decline of 26.8 per cent to 15.75 million tonnes (MT) in October over the same month a year ago.

India had imported 21.50 MT of coal in October 2020, according to data compiled by mjunction services. "India's coal and coke imports in October 2021 through the major and non-major ports are estimated to have decreased by 26.8 per cent over October 2020," it said. mjunction -- a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL -- is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

Commenting on the coal import trend, Vinaya Varma, MD and CEO, mjunction, said, "while there was strong demand for coal from the power sector during the festive season, firm prices in the seaborne market restricted import volumes. Going forward, improved domestic supply in the coming months is likely to keep import demand low."

However, coal import in October was up six per cent as compared to 14.85 MT imported during September 2021, the data show. Of the total import in October 2021, non-coking coal was at 9.47 MT, against 14.46 MT imported in October last year. Coking coal import was at 4.05 MT, lower than 4.92 MT imported in October 2020. During the April-October period of the ongoing fiscal, total coal import stood at 123.09 MT, about 5.4 per cent higher than 116.81 MT in the year-ago period. During the April-October period, non-coking coal import was at 79.54 MT, slightly higher than 77.67 MT imported during April-October of the pervious fiscal. Coking coal import was at 30.51 MT, against 23.89 MT imported during the year-ago period.