India's coal import rises 50% to 19 million tonnes in June

New Delhi: India's coal import rose 50 per cent to 18.77 million tonnes (MT) in June this year, when compared to the shipments arrived in the same month of 2020. The country had imported 12.51 MT of coal in the corresponding month a year ago, according to (revised) data compiled by mjunction services.

mjunction — a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL — is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

"Imports in June 2021 stood at around 18.77 million tonnes (MT)...However, coal imports in June 2021 were up by 50.05 per cent over June 2020 when imports plunged to 12.51 MT," it said. Coal import during June through the major and non-major ports decreased by 5.76 per cent over May this fiscal, it said.

"There was a modest decline in import volumes in June which was on the expected lines. This trend is likely to continue during monsoon as the seaborne prices remain at multi-year high levels. Meanwhile, some buyers shifted preference from imports to domestic coal. It is to be seen if they hold on to it when seaborne prices stabilise," Vinaya Varma, MD & CEO mjunction services said.

Of the total imports in June, non-coking coal was at 13.05 MT, against 8.28 MT imported in June last fiscal. Coking coal import was at 4.06 MT, up against 2.46 MT imported in June last financial year.

During April-June 2021, total coal import stood at 60.97 MT, about 32.13 per cent higher than 46.14 MT imported during April-June of the last fiscal.

During the June quarter, non-coking coal import was at 42.01 MT, against 31.09 MT imported during April-June last fiscal. Coking coal import was recorded at 13.21 MT, against 8.87 MT imported during the same quarter a year ago.