India’s Coal Imports Rise 8% Between April And October

India's coal imports rose 7.9 percent year-on-year to 134.46 million tonnes in the first seven months of the ongoing financial year, according to mjunction services.

The country imported 124.57 million tonnes of coal in corresponding period of the previous financial year. There was, however, a 6.8 percent drop in coal and coke imports in October compared to 19.77 million tonnes imported a year ago.

“India's thermal coal demand remained buoyant due to the coal shortage in the power sector. However, there was an expectation of further corrections in spot coal prices, which might have delayed some procurement plans. In the met coal segment, a healthy growth in the steel industry and expectation of a price rise led to higher volumes,” said Vinaya Varma, chief executive officer of mjunction—a joint venture e-commerce platform of Tata Steel Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd.

Coal and coke imports during October through 31 major and non-major ports are estimated to have increased 3.55 percent over September.

The government earlier said during 2017-18, coal imports increased to 208.27 million tonnes due to an increase in demand by consuming sectors.