India, one of the major dry fuel consumers across the globe, imported about 19.2 MnT of coal in July’15 which is more or less same as previous month’s import owing to steady demand during ongoing monsoon.
India, a significant player in coal imports, has registered a marginal growth of about 0.5% in July’15 and imported about 19.2 MnT coal, which is alike the import in June’15.As per SteelMint’s data analysis, out of the total, the country imported around 15.3 MnT of non-coking coal , which increased about 5.5% against 14.5 MnT imported in June’15; about 3.6 MnT coking coal, registering a fall about 14.2% compared to last month, and 0.34 MnT coke and anthracite was imported by the end of the month.
Apart from these grades, the country also imported about 0.9 MnT of Pet coke which has shown a growth compared to its last month’s import, noted at 0.6 MnT. The quantity was majorly supplied by USA and Egypt.
Stability in India’s current coal imports is likely a result of the mixed sentiments in the domestic market. While demand is steady, on one hand domestic availability increased by CIL seems favoring coal import reduction; on the other hand monsoon is restricting buyers from making more bookings.
Few big players who contribute a major portion in country’s total coal imports such as NTPC, JSPL, Adani Power etc. have reduced their imports in July’15. NTPC, India’s largest power producing company as well as largest consumer of imported coal, seems less dependent on imported coal this quarter and hopes to cater the need of its power plants with domestic supply till Sept’15. CIL’s increased supply is sufficient to run their plants smoothly which may lead to reduction in coal imports in coming month.
India’s Coal Imports in FY16
| Commodity | 15-Apr | 15-May | 15-Jun | 15-Jul | Total |
| Non-Coking Coal | 15.75 | 16.75 | 14.50 | 15.28 | 62.28 |
| Coking Coal | 3.32 | 4.21 | 4.26 | 3.63 | 15.42 |
| Met Coke | 0.34 | 0.17 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 1.13 |
| Anthracite | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.21 |
| Total | 19.51 | 21.15 | 19.13 | 19.25 | 79.05 |
Quantity in MnT
Source: SteelMint
Major Discharging Ports & Importers in July’15
About 70% of coal was imported at key ports of the country. Among the major Indian ports, Mundra imported maximum quantity of about 2.7 MnT, followed by Krishnapatnam with 1.8 MnT and Gangavaram at 1.5 MnT.
Companies like Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, JSW Steel, SAIL & Essar Steel imported large quantities and played the most decisive role in coal imports; these imported about 2.1 MnT, 1.8 MnT, 1.2 MnT, 1.0 MnT and 0.78 MnT respectively in July’15.
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