Coal Imports to India down by 15% W-o-W

India’s weekly coal import have fallen by 15% to about 3.5 MnT at the week ended on 25 Oct, 2014.

SteelMint learned that coal imports to India have fallen by 15% in week 43. About 70% of coal has been imported on major ports of the country. In last week, about 3.5 MnT coal is imported on overall 33 major & minor Indian ports. Out of the total quantity, about 2.8 MnT was Thermal coal, 0.56 MnT was Coking and rest was Coke.

Indonesia, Australia & South Africa were the major suppliers at the end of week. Out of the total weekly imports, India has imported 2.1 MnT and 0.53 MnT of Thermal coal from Indonesia and South Africa respectively. Also, the country has imported about 0.54 MnT of Coking coal from Australia.

Mundra has imported maximum quantity i.e. about 0.65 MnT of coal, followed by Dahej, which has imported about 0.44 MnT. This shows a growth of about 90% as compared to preceding week.

Government controlled 12 major Indian ports have imported about 39.5 MnT of Thermal coal during H1 FY15 (Apr’14-Sep’14) and registered a growth of 22% against last year imports.

Few market experts anticipated that India’s coal import is likely to increase in FY16 on the background of coal blocks de-allocation and constantly increasing domestic prices. International coal prices have already declined by 10-20% as compared to last year.

Indonesian Coal
Currently, Indonesian 4200 GAR is being offered at USD 48.5-49/MT (36.5 FOB) and USD 49-50/MT CFR East and West Coast of India respectively. Meanwhile, 3800 GAR is being offered at around USD 41-42/MT CFR India.

(USD 1=INR 61.41)