Strong demand pushes India’s thermal coal imports up by 4% in October

Indian thermal coal imports in Oct’20 stood at 16.9 mn t against 12.4 mn t in Sep’20, up by 4.1% and on y-o-y basis, the same also moved up by 11% as in Oct’19 it stood at 15.2 mn t.

• Indonesia remained the top exporter in Oct’20 with a surge of 32% m-o-m at 10.8 mn t. Imports from South Africa increased by 6% m-o-m in Oct’20 and stood at 3.47 mn t.
• Imports from U.S, Mozambique and Australia has observed a dramatic surge m-o-m basis at 0.74 mn t, 0.42 mn t and 1.32 mn t respectively.
• Colombian coal imports into India are completely absent since past three months.

Power sector imports up by 17%, cement sector by 30%

• Out of total imports by various sectors, traders booked about 8.55 mn t of thermal coal with 63% coming from Indonesia. Adani Enterprise remained the top importer with 2.44 mn t imports (up by 55% m-o-m).
• Power sector imported about 5.23 mn t of coal (up by 17% m-o-m) whereas cement sector imported 0.99 mn t of thermal coal (up by 30% m-o-m) in October.
• India’s power consumption grew 13.4% y-o-y to 110.94 billion units (BU) in October this year, mainly driven by buoyancy in industrial and commercial activities, as per government data.
• The top direct importer was Adani Power with majority imports from Indonesia. This is followed by Coastal Gujrat Power at 0.71 mn t and Essar Power at 0.22 mn t.
• Out of all the direct imports (of 0.99 mn t) made by cement manufacturers, highest quantity (0.58 mn t) was booked by Ultratech Cement combined from U.S., Mozambique, and Indonesia followed by Shree Cement at 0.16 mn t from South Africa.
• Market reports suggest that the India’s domestic cement demand picked up in October at urban centres amid greater traction from infrastructure, real estate, and industrial projects.
• Subsequently, the industry reported another double-digit y-o-y volume growth in October. Even sequentially the volumes in October were higher than September.
  
  Outlook ahead

India’s coal demand from both power and cement sector would improve further in the ongoing winter season. However, CIL subsidiaries’ auctions especially for importers, sluggish trade during due to Diwali festival and ample availability of stock at ports could deter any dramatic rise in Indian coal imports in November.