India’s coking coal imports rose 3% in financial year 2021-22 (FY22) as compared to the previous financial year to 52.1 million tonnes (mnt), according to CoalMint’s data.
This marginal rise has come despite the surge in coking coal prices that went up by a humongous 210% y-o-y in FY22 and averaged at $360/t.
India’s crude steel output up in FY22
Coking coal is used in the steel industry as a raw material and its demand depends on demand for steel.
Qty in mn t
In FY22, India’s crude steel production increased by 16% to 118 mnt while steel exports increased by 5% to 20 mnt. For the same period, India has added crude steel capacity by 3.5%, taking it to 150 mnt.
Imports from Australia rise, fall from US and Canada
In FY22, India imported 75% of its coking coal from Australia with volumes at 41.6 mnt, up 9% y-o-y. Coking coal imports from the US fell by 3% to 3.7 mnt and were down from Canada by 29% y-o-y to 2.15 mnt.
March sees marginal rise in imports
If we analyse the latest import numbers, March 2022 imports were at 4.6 mnt, up 3.3% m-o-m. The average price of Australian premium hard coking coal in March stood at $588/t, up $143/t m-o-m. The Indian buyers continued to import coking coal, especially from Australia, even at elevated prices amid the uncertainty in the global markets, surrounding the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Coking coal imports from the US in March increased 34% m-o-m to 0.6 mnt. While Australia remained the top coking coal exporter, its imports remained range-bound at 3.2 mnt.
JSW Steel imported the highest quantity of coking coal in March, 2022 at 1.1 mnt, up 25% m-o-m. Imports by SAIL, Tata Steel and RINL fell by 16.5%, 14% and 16.7% in this month respectively.
Outlook
Coking coal imports in April are expected to rise m-o-m as prices have seen a downward correction of more than $220/t from the highs in March. Also, despite weak domestic demand, Indian steel manufacturers are focusing on exports that would result in increased coking coal imports in April.
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