Total coal traffic (coking and non-coking combined) handled at Indian ports was at 28.6 million tonnes (mnt) in May 2022, up by 9% m-o-m. This increase was because of a rise in non-coking coal shipments by 12% m-o-m to 22.4 mnt which constitute 78% of the total coal traffic.
Quantity in mnt
Domestic supply crunch in India resulted in a rise in non-coking coal shipments last month. Easing of global thermal coal prices from their March peak also contributed to the rise in shipments.
Meanwhile, coking coal traffic was largely unchanged at 6.1 mnt in May.
Port traffic refers to shipments via import, export, and coastal movements between different ports with in India.
Non-coking coal price analysis
Price in FOB ($/t) | *Monthly average prices
CoalMint’s analysis of prices prevailing before the war versus prices in the current situation reveals that Australian 5500 kcal/kg NAR and South African RB2 (5500 kcal/kg NAR) prices have fallen by 22% and 20% respectively in May while Indonesian prices fell slightly by 2%.
Coking coal traffic range bound
Coking coal traffic handled at Indian ports remained stable last month despite a fall in domestic steel demand because the shipments that arrived in May were booked at a time when prices fell during early-April.
Port-wise coal traffic
As per CoalMint data, the highest rise in coal traffic was observed at Vizag and Haldia ports with 56% and 58% growth in vessels’ arrival. While, Paradip Port, receiving the largest number of shipments, saw a marginal drop in coal traffic by 2% m-o-m to 4.6 mnt.
Top port-wise non-coking coal traffic
Quantity in mnt
Top port-wise coking coal traffic
Quantity in mnt
Outlook
India’s non-coking coal traffic is likely to increase in the upcoming month amidst the ongoing domestic supply crunch. However, coking coal imports may drop amid a reduction in domestic steel demand and a sharp rise in steel export duty.
Leave a Reply