India’s coal imports grew by over 20 per cent in May.
India’s coal imports rose 20.4 per cent to 19.92 million tonnes (MT) in the month of May. According to data compiled by mjunction services, the country imported 16.54 metric tonnes of coal in May last fiscal.
“On a year-on-year basis, however, India’s coal and coke imports were up 20.4 per cent in May 2021, compared to 16.54 MT in May 2020.”
Dry fuel imports are expected to remain subdued in the current monsoon season due to low demand, firm prices and higher freight rates.
India’s coal imports also increased by 25.4 per cent to 42.19 MT in the first two months of the current fiscal, as against 33.63 MT in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Out of the total imports in May, the import of non-coking coal stood at 13.64 MT, as against 10.54 MT in May last fiscal. In the previous financial year, coking coal imports stood at 4.41 MT as against 3.18 MT in May.
The import of non-coking coal during April-May was 28.96 MT as against 22.82 MT imported during April-May period of the previous financial year.
The import of coking coal was recorded at 9.15 MT, which was higher than 6.41 MT imported during April-May of the previous financial year.
“Imports declined on a monthly basis in May due to higher availability of domestic coal coupled with firmer prices in the maritime market. Import volumes are expected to be lower in the current monsoon season due to lower demand, firmer prices and higher freight traffic. rates,” said Vinay Verma, MD & CEO, mjunction Services.
mjunction- a joint venture of Tata Steel and SAIL- is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel vertical.
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