According to the vessel line-up data compiled by CoalMint research, Indian non-coking coal imports have increased 25% on the month to 17.96 MnT in Oct’18. Notably, monthly imports had attained the highest total since Jan’13 (the period from which CoalMint has started maintaining vessel line-up data).
Imports to the tune of 17 MnT were earlier seen during FY15 when the Supreme Court had cancelled the allocation of 204 coal blocks, thereby prompting more imports from the end-users of these blocks.
The stern rise in Imports this term can be attributed to the low coal stock at power plants whose elevated demand has not been met by the domestic coal supplies.
Besides, the Indian buyers have also benefited with the decline in Indonesian coal prices, which have been falling continuously in the absence of any appreciable Chinese demand. After enjoying its stay at the higher side in the previous year, Indonesian prices particularly of mid and low CV coal have now reached its lowest mark in Nov’18 eventually slowing down the effect of the of Rupee depreciation against US Dollar to an extent.
India’s non-coking coal import in Oct’18 was 39% higher on the year compared with 12.89 MnT in Oct’17. While, total imports in the 10-month period (Jan’18-Oct’18) has reached 146.26 MnT, up 24% Y-o-Y from 118.05 MnT in Jan’17-Oct’17 period.
Major Coal Exporters:
Indonesian non-coking coal exports were marked at 11.58 MnT in Oct’18, achieving the double digit coal supplies to India for the first time in the past 2 years. Export during the month was up 34% M-o-M from 8.62 MnT in Sep’18, and 46% higher on the year from 7.95 MnT in Oct’17.
South African coal exports had rebounded after falling in the previous month to record 3.33 MnT in Oct’17. Exports were also 12% higher on the year from 2.98 MnT in Oct’17.
US remained the third-largest non-coking coal exporter in Oct’18, despite witnessing a slight fall in monthly supplies to India. US coal export slipped 3% M-o-M to 1.04 MnT against 1.07 MnT in Sep’18 but was up 6% Y-o-Y from 0.98 MnT in Oct’17.
Export from Australia and Mozambique was also down on the monthly basis in Oct’18.
Source: CoalMint Research, Vessel Line-Up Data | Quantity in MnT
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