Coal traffic (coking and non-coking combined) handled at Indian ports fell for the second-straight month by 9% m-o-m to 29 million tonnes (mnt) in August, 2022, CoalMint data shows.
Port traffic refers to the shipments via imports, exports and coastal movement between different ports within India.
India’s total coal imports fell by 13% m-o-m in August with a major decline being registered in thermal coal.
Thermal coal traffic handled at ports recorded a 16% drop to 15.4 mnt mainly due to elevated global prices, slowdown in procurement by the manufacturing sector and disruption in port operations due to rains.
Whereas coking coal shipments recorded a rise of 13% to 4.66 mnt amid increased vessel arrival from the USA.
Qty in mnt
Key ports of thermal coal traffic
As per CoalMint data, the highest decline in thermal coal traffic was seen at Mundra and Vizag ports by 34% and 30%, respectively with the drop in vessel arrivals. Paradip Port received the largest number of shipments at 4.3 mnt.
Key ports of coking coal traffic
While Paradip handled maximum vessels of coking coal, traffic at Gangavaram Port surged by 154% to 0.25 mnt, followed by Ennore Port. Mundra Port received around 1,00,000 t of coking coal.
Port traffic during the first eight months of 2022
Qty in mnt
Amid a domestic coal supply crunch especially during summers, thermal coal port traffic handled by Indian ports rose by 25% y-o-y to 173.3 mnt in the first eight months of 2022. Whereas coking coal traffic fell marginally by 2% in the said period.
Outlook
India’s coal traffic is likely to increase post-monsoon as manufacturing activity gains momentum. Elevated global prices, however, could cap any major rise in imports. Any considerable increase in coking coal demand is likely to be constrained due to the steel export duty.
Leave a Reply