Anthracite Coal imports in India remained low due to the sluggish demand in the country’s market.
In FY18, imports of the coal did not undergo any significant change from the low level status. Even then, the imports during the fiscal were up by around 30.48% over the imports in FY17.
According to an analysis on the data compiled by CoalMint Research, imports of Anthracite Coal in India during FY18 had totaled around only 1.21 MnT against the lower imports of around 0.93 MnT in FY17.

Source: CoalMint Research
During FY18, imports from Russia had accounted for the largest share in the total import basket; followed by that from Latvia.
| Quantity in MT | |||
| ORIGIN | FY17 | FY18 | CHANGE(%) |
| RUSSIA | 575,020 | 761,070 | 32.36 |
| LATVIA | 97,600 | 190,547 | 95.23 |
| CHINA | 77,000 | NA | |
| FINLAND | 50,700 | NA | |
| UKRAINE | 22,000 | 22,000 | 0.00 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 84,040 | 20,000 | -76.20 |
| ARGENTINA | 19,400 | NA | |
| VIETNAM | 50,040 | 8,400 | -83.21 |
| MALAYSIA | 4,400 | NA | |
| CANADA | 33,000 | -100.00 | |
| IRAN | 26,400 | -100.00 | |
| PHILIPPINES | 8,600 | -100.00 | |
| USA | 33,000 | -100.00 | |
| OTHERS | 59,550 | NA | |
| TOTAL | 929,700 | 1,213,067 | 30.48 |
Source: CoalMint Research
Import traffic in respect to the coal imports was the highest at the Paradip port during FY18; followed by the traffic at the Krishnapatnam and Vizag ports.

Source: CoalMint Research
In a month-wise assessment, imports of Anthracite Coal in Mar’18 were at around 30,010 MT, down by around 63.97% against the imports in Feb’18; and also lower by around 80.27% over the imports of around 152,100 MT in Mar’17.

Source: CoalMint Research
It is to be noted that the imports were not influenced by the price changes but by the lackluster demand. Users of Anthracite Coal preferred using alternate coal types, giving rise to the sluggishness in the demand.
The following are the importers of the coal during FY18:
| Quantity in MT | |||
| Importer | FY17 | FY18 | Change(%) |
| JSW STEEL | 167,400 | 322,000 | 92.35 |
| JINDAL STEEL & POWER | 176,540 | 123,930 | -29.80 |
| ESSAR STEEL | 135,000 | 121,000 | -10.37 |
| TATA STEEL | 82,000 | 116,700 | 42.32 |
| BHUSHAN STEEL | 38,000 | 95,000 | 150.00 |
| RAWMET COMMODITY | 59,520 | 67,910 | 14.10 |
| KIOCL | 38,900 | NA | |
| INDIAN METALS & FERRO ALLOYS | 41,590 | 33,600 | -19.21 |
| GERDAU STEELS/BMM ISPAT/RAWMET | 28,250 | NA | |
| BALASORE ALLOY | 5,500 | 27,500 | 400.00 |
| KIC METALIKS | 25,000 | NA | |
| RASHMI GROUP | 36,800 | 24,300 | -33.97 |
| ELECTROSTEEL CASTING | 24,200 | NA | |
| ELECTROSTEEL | 46,500 | 19,050 | -59.03 |
| SHRI KALAHASTI PIPES | 11,000 | 13,200 | 20.00 |
| SRI KALAHASTI PIPES LTD / SV ISPAT PVT LTD | 13,100 | NA | |
| ANKIT METAL | 11,047 | NA | |
| BENGAL ENERGY | 47,700 | 10,000 | -79.04 |
| MODERN INDIA CON-CAST | 10,000 | NA | |
| OSWAL | 10,000 | NA | |
| JINDAL STAINLESS | 8,250 | NA | |
| ROHIT MINERALS | 6,050 | 7,700 | 27.27 |
| INDO FERRO METALS | 6,930 | NA | |
| ARYA IRON | 5,500 | -100.00 | |
| ARYA IRON/SHYAM SEL | 13,700 | -100.00 | |
| BHARAT CHEMICAL | 26,400 | -100.00 | |
| SHYAM GROUP | 10,000 | -100.00 | |
| VADIKA | 5,500 | -100.00 | |
| OTHERS | 15,000 | 55,500 | 270.00 |
| Total | 929,700 | 1,213,067 | 30.48 |
Source: CoalMint Research
On the pricing front, there was no change in the offers for the coal in the recent past. The offers were reported at around USD 135/MT FoB, which translates into around USD 147/MT on CFR India basis.

Source: CoalMint Research

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