Pakistan’s thermal coal imports registered a modest increase of 8% y-o-y to 0.99 million tonnes (mnt) in Jan’22 after falling for the last five months, CoalMint’s vessel-line up data reveals.
The rise in imports was mainly attributed to the increased shipments from South Africa last month.
Despite subdued cement sales in Jan’22, Pakistan’s thermal coal imports from South Africa rose by 123% to 0.8 mnt backed by a slight decline in coal prices in Dec’21 which encouraged importers to make purchases.
Pakistan’s total cement sales fell by 16% y-o-y to 3.4 mnt in Jan’22, data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association shows.
The country’s domestic cement consumption also remained low as unfavourable weather conditions slowed down construction activities for public sector development projects.
Supply from Indonesia declines
Amidst the sudden ban on coal exports by the Indonesian government in Jan’22, import shipments from the country into Pakistan fell by 52% m-o-m to 0.2 mnt, CoalMint data showed.
Notably, Pakistan’s power sector consumes the highest amount of Indonesian coal.
Shipments from other origins
Amidst escalated coal prices and persisting supply disruption, there was no import shipment from Australia, and Russia last month.
Shipments from USA, however, rose to 0.06 mnt in Jan’22 after a gap of three-months.
Outlook
Pakistan’s coal imports are likely to remain subdued in the coming months as global coal prices remain elevated. The persistent supply disruption may further affect deliveries to the country in the near-term.
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