India: Coking coal imports edge down y-o-y in FY’25, shipments from Australia drop sharply

• Imports from Russia jump over 60% y-o-y
• SAIL emerges as leading importer in FY’25

India imported 56.9 million tonnes (mnt) of coking coal in the last fiscal year (FY’25), marginally lower by 0.7% compared to 57.3 mnt in FY’24. The fall was driven by reduced shipments from key suppliers such as Australia and the US, though Russian volumes rose sharply, indicating a diversification in sourcing.

Notably, India’s coking coal imports stood at 4.9 mnt in March 2025, up 23% from 4.0 mnt in February, as per provisional data from BigMint.

Imports by source

Australia remained India’s leading coking coal supplier in FY’25, although shipments dropped 11% y-o-y to 30.4 mnt from 34.3 mnt in FY’24. Imports from the US dipped by 2% to 8.6 mnt. In contrast, Russian coking coal imports jumped significantly by 67% to 8.2 mnt in FY’25, up from 4.9 mnt in the previous fiscal.

Leading receivers

SAIL was the top importer in FY’25 at 13.6 mnt, despite a 12% drop from 15.5 mnt in FY’24. JSW Steel followed closely with 12.3 mnt, up 2.5% y-o-y. Tata Steel maintained steady intake at 9.1 mnt, while RINL saw a slight drop of 3% y-o-y to 3.7 mnt. Jindal Steel and Power witnessed the steepest decline among major buyers, with imports nearly halving to 3.7 mnt in FY’25 from 7.1 mnt in FY’24.

Price trends

Prices of Australian premium hard coking coal (PHCC) rose $10/tonne (t) or 5% to an average of $230/t CFR India in FY’25 compared to $220/t in FY’24.

Additionally, BigMint’s PHCC index was assessed at $188/t CNF Paradip, India, on 31 March 2025, down by $10/t from $198/t on 13 March. The steep drop was driven by the decline in global prices, which recently hit a four-year low.

Australian PHCC prices fell to a four-year low of $166/t FOB in March 2025. These levels were last seen in June 2021. However, prices recovered marginally to around $169/t FOB towards the weekend after dropping earlier last week.