Pakistan’s thermal coal imports registered a sharp fall of 40% m-o-m to 0.6 million tonnes (mnt) in Feb’22, continuing its declining trajectory for the sixth straight month, CoalMint’s vessel-line up data reveals.
The fall in imports was mainly attributed to the reduced shipments from South Africa which fell by a whopping 57% m-o-m.
A 38% m-o-m increase in South African RB2 (5500 NAR) grade prices affected the buying appetite of the cement sector, the highest buyer of coal, besides the adverse weather conditions that slowed down construction activity since Jan’22.
Pakistan’s total cement sales were recorded at 4.4 mnt in Feb’22, down 5% y-o-y, data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association shows.
Supply from Indonesia rises
Following a sharp drop in Indonesian coal deliveries in Jan’22 surrounding the export ban, shipments from the country rose 25% m-o-m to 0.22 mnt in February, CoalMint data showed.
Notably, Pakistan’s power sector consumes a large amount of Indonesian coal.
Amidst a sharp rise in fuel costs (that leads to rise in power tariffs in the country), the government continues to make efforts to ensure supplies of the same in the coming summer months.
Shipments from other origins
Amidst escalated coal prices and persisting supply disruption, there was no import shipment from Australia, USA, and Russia last month.
Pakistan’s thermal coal shipments from Mozambique rose to 0.05 mnt last month after a gap of one month, CoalMint data showed.
Outlook
Pakistan’s coal imports are likely to remain subdued in the coming months as global prices have already breached the all-time high levels. The persistent supply disruption may further affect deliveries into the country in the near-term.
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