Amid an improving domestic coal supply situation and anticipation of a fall in imported coal prices, Indian buyers largely delayed any major bookings of Indonesian thermal coal this month. A total of 1.3 million tonnes (mn t) of the material is set to arrive at Indian ports by 21 Dec’21, CoalMint’s vessel line-up data (as on 26 Nov’21) reveals.
Shipments from Indonesia into India stood at 2.09 mn t in the same period last month.
Arrival of vessels on a month-on-month basis has decreased as market participants awaited a further reduction in imported coal prices. However, prevailing tight supply in Indonesia compelled miners to hold offers, which resulted in a rebound in the Indonesian Coal Index last week after a four-week decline.
In the above-mentioned period, a total volume of 0.32 mn t of thermal coal, booked by Adani Enterprise, is set to arrive at Gangavaram, Navlakhi and Dahej ports followed by IMR Resources with 0.13 mn t which will arrive at Magdalla and Tuticorin ports.
Thermal coal shipments from Australia also witnessed a whopping 79% m-o-m decline as a total of 0.3 mn t from Australia is set to arrive at Indian ports till mid-Dec’21 with the highest quantity of 0.11 mn t booked by Adani Enterprise.
Arcelormittal Nippon Steel is also set to bring in the highest volume of 0.18 mn t of South African coal at Hazira Port.
Thermal coal shipments from South Africa arriving at Indian ports have gained momentum recently after portside stocks dried up and weak availability of domestic coal prompted the non-power sector to procure high-priced imported coal.
| Country | Vessel arrival till mid-Nov’21 | Vessel arrival till mid-Dec’21 | % Difference |
| Indonesia | 2.1 | 1.3 | -38 |
| Australia | 1.4 | 0.3 | -79 |
| South Africa | 0.7 | 1.0 | +39 |
| The US | 0.4 | 0.3 | -30 |
| China | 0.2 | 0.04 | -80 |
*Qty in mn t
A total volume of 2.99 mn t of thermal coal is scheduled to arrive at Indian ports by 21 Dec’21, CoalMint’s data showed.
Gangavaram to take in highest shipments
The highest volume of 0.55 mn t of thermal coal is set to arrive at Gangavaram Port from South Africa (0.25 mn t), Indonesia (0.19 mn t) and Mozambique (0.11 mn t).
Hazira Port is the next highest receiver of thermal coal in the period under consideration with a total volume of 0.42 mn t coming in from all the major coal importing destinations. The port is set to receive 0.18 mn t of thermal coal from South Africa, 0.17 mn t from Indonesia, and 0.07 mn t from Australia.
Vizag Port is set to receive a combined 0.38 mn t from Indonesia and South Africa, while Kandla is set to receive a total of 0.18 mn t from Indonesia, and the US.
Highest thermal coal receivers
| Company | Quantity in mn t |
| Adani Enterprise | 0.62 |
| Ultratech Cement | 0.28 |
| Arcelormittal Nippon Steel | 0.25 |
| JSPL/Maithan/Shri Balaji | 0.16 |
| Adani Power | 0.16 |
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