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India’s coking coal imports rose 6 per cent year-on-year to 28 million tonnes (mt) in the April–October period of this fiscal, against 26.5 mt a year-ago.
Supplies from Russia jumped over 100 per cent to 1.1 mt during the seven-month period, data from trade sources and the Ministry of Steel show. Russian coking coal imports stood at 0.53 mt in the corresponding period last fiscal. Despite the rise, the country remained the fifth largest supplier of coal, behind Australia, the US, Canada and Mozambique.
Coking coal is a key raw material in steel-making. India, the world’s second largest producer of crude steel, is a major importer of the resource, primarily because supplies remain limited.
In FY22, over 50 mt of coking coal was imported by the country’s steel mills.
“Increased imports of Russian coal came as companies were able to book larger quantities at “substantially cheaper rates” (at nearly 20–30 per cent discount in some cases),” a trade source told businessline.
According to the trade data available, Russian imports were up 128 per cent in September 2022, as compared to the same period last year.
Supplies from Australia decline
Supplies from Australia – India’s key sourcing market – declined 14 per cent to 18.33 mt during April–October 2022. Australian coking coal shipments were to the tune of 21.28 mt in the same period last year.
“Pricier offerings saw Indian mills explore alternatives, including Mozambique, South Africa and the US,” officials said.
Interestingly, there have been no Chinese imports so far this year because of stringent Covid-control measures. Supplies from China were at 66,757 tonnes in the seven-month period of the last fiscal.
On the other hand, nearly 55,000 tonnes of coal came in from South Africa till October.
Alternative markets
Supplies from the US were up 150 per cent at 4.34 mt (1.8 mt) y-o-y – the highest growth in percentage terms during the seven-month period.
Exports from Canada – the third largest source of coking coal for mills here – jumped 20 per cent to 1.45 mt, while that from Mozambique – the fourth largest source – jumped 40 per cent to 1.40 mt.
Imports from Indonesia rose 146 per cent y-o-y to 1.23 mt, against 0.5 mt in the corresponding period last fiscal.
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