India Imports 4.2 MnT of Coking Coal in First Month of 2016

Coking coal import to India remained same as the preceding month. Amid of centre’s considerable efforts, import is still huge. Low grade indigenous coal acts as a main culprit.

 India, recognized amongst the largest coking coal importer globally, has imported 4.2 MnT of coking coal in Jan’16. The quantity was more or less same as the preceding month.

 Amid of continuous mounting production of CIL, Indian steel makers imported lion’s share of coking coal. The reason behind the same is that less share of coking coal from Indian coal reserves and lack of desired quality required for producing coke of prime quality required in steel production.

Although, the coking coal import in Jan’16 decreased by about 6% Y-o-Y, the gap is not that significant to fulfill centre’s dream to make India self-sufficient in coal production.

Qty in MnT
Grade- Coking Coal
India Imports-SteelMint Stats
China Imports-Customs

Top exporters in Jan’16

SteelMint assessed that in Jan’16, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Indonesia and Mozambique were the prime source of coking coal import for Indian steelmakers. Aussie’s coal as usual dominated the imports. Australia imported 3.1 MnT of coking coal to India. The quantity constitutes a major chunks and accounts for about 74% of the total coking import for the month. Coal imports from South Africa witnessed a downfall of 37% in Jan’16.The country exported 0.4 MnT of coking coal to India against 0.7 MnT in the preceding month.

Major discharging ports

Dhamra, Mormugoa, Paradip and Vizag Ports were the major ports that held coking stocks. About 1.1 MnT was reported to be discharged at Dhamra port. Dharma port held the highest quantity of coking stock, followed by Mormugoa and Paradip.

Source- SteelMint Stats

Key importers for the month

SAIL, JSW Steel, RINL, Tata Steel and Electro Steel were the top importers of the month. All these 5 accounted for 71% of the total imported quantity. The quantity was assessed at 3 MnT. SAIL imported about 1.2 MnT of material.