India's coal import dropped 13.6% to 196.13 million tonne in the April-February period of the ongoing fiscal year.
The country had imported 227.23 MT of coal in the year-ago period, according to a report by mjunction services. mjunction -- a joint venture between Tata Steel Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd. -- is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.
"For April-February 2020-21, total coal and coke imports stood at 196.13 MT, about 13.69% lower than 227.23 MT imported during April-February 2019-20," it said.
During April-February, non-coking coal import was at 128.91 MT, against 157.59 MT during the year-ago period.
Coking coal import was recorded at 43.98 MT, lower than 45.17 MT imported during the same period a year ago.
Coal import in February stood at 15.29 MT as against 22.68 MT in the year-ago period.
Of the total imports in February, non-coking coal was at 9.07 MT, against 16.94 MT in the same month last year.
Coking coal import was at 4.82 MT, as against 4.02 MT imported in February last fiscal.
"The sharp decline in import volumes in February was due to a significant fall in thermal coal imports amid firm prices and high freight rates in the international markets,” Vinaya Varma, managing director and chief executive officer, mjunction services, said.
"In line with market expectation, the country's coal and coke import is going to see a substantial drop and may close the year with a volume of 210-215 million tonnes," Varma added.
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