Supply disruptions in South Africa (SA) due to the civil unrest and cyber-attack on the logistic firm, Transnet, pushed the country’s thermal coal prices up in Jul’21.
As per data compiled by CoalMint, the 5500 NAR and 5000 NAR used mainly by the sponge iron sector in India, arrived at $104/t, and $103/t, FoB basis, up by 6% m-o-m basis. The quantity imported for both the grades stood at 0.24 mn t.
However, South African coal imports into India fell by 17% m-o-m to 2.4 million tonnes (mn t) in Jul’21. This was majorly due to rising preference of Indian sponge iron units for domestic coal over South African amid its price escalation.
Adani Enterprise was the highest receiver with 0.8 mn t, followed by Swiss Singapore and Tata Steel with 0.23 mn t and 0.16 mn t, respectively.
Vizag and Dhamra ports anchored the highest number of thermal coal vessels from South Africa with 0.5 mn t each, followed by Gangavaram and Krishnapatnam ports with 0.4 mn t each.
Imports of low-CV Indonesian coal make way in July
Although, imports from Indonesia were the highest in Jul’21, these fell 11% m-o-m to 4.2 mn t. As the sharp rise in Indonesian coal prices over the last few months had already dented demand from Indian buyers, coal with low calorific value has made its way into the country.
The highest quantity imported was of Indonesian 3900 GAR grade at 0.45 mn t followed by 3500 GAR at 0.35 mn t in Jul’21. The average price of Indonesian 3900 GAR for July had been assessed at $57/t FoB, while that of the 3500 GAR was at $38/t, FoB. In Jun’21, the 4200 GAR grade was imported in maximum quantity at 0.40 mn t.
Adani Enterprise was the largest importer of Indonesian coal last month with 1.41 mn t, followed by Adani Power with 0.41 mn t, and Semb Corp Gayathri Power at 0.22 mn t.
Mundra Port received the highest quantity of Indonesian coal at 0.8 mn t followed by Hazira Port (0.7 mn t), and Krishnapatnam Port (0.6 mn t).
Australian coal prices up 11% in July
Amidst a rise of 11% in Australian coal prices, imports from the country fell to 1.8 mn t in Jul’21, as against 2.9 mn t in Jun’21.
The 4800 NAR and 5500 NAR coals were the highest imported grades during last month at 0.48 mn t and 0.32 mn t, respectively. Coal prices for the 5500 NAR grade is averaged at $86/t FoB Newcastle basis, up against $76/t in Jun’21.
JSW Energy was the top importer of Australian coal at 0.28 mn t followed by Coastal Gujarat Power at 0.18 mn t and JSW Steel at 0.15 mn t.
Jaigarh and Mundra ports received the highest number of thermal coal vessels with 0.4 mn t and 0.3 mn t, respectively.
Coal imports from the US were recorded at 1.2 mn t in Jul’21 with 0.29 mnt of the 6800 NCV, mainly used by the cement and power sectors. Its FoB price was at $105/t during Jul’21.
Imports from Russia and Mozambique stood at comparatively lower levels m-o-m at 0.2 mn t and 0.5 mn t respectively.
Leave a Reply