India's coal import rises 20% in May, volumes may be subdued in ongoing monsoon

India's coal import 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 had imported 16.54 MT of coal in May last fiscal, it said.

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.

"On a year-on-year basis, however, India's coal and coke imports in May 2021 were up 20.4 per cent as against 16.54 MT clocked in May 2020," it said.

Import volumes of dry-fuel, it said, are expected to remain subdued in the ongoing monsoon season on account of lower demand, firm prices and high freight rates.

India's coal import also rose 25.4 per cent to 42.19 MT in the first two months of the ongoing fiscal, against 33.63 MT of coal imported in the corresponding period of previous financial year, it said.

Of the total import in May, non-coking coal was at 13.64 MT, against 10.54 MT imported in May last financial year. Coking coal import was at 4.41 MT, up against 3.18 MT imported in May last fiscal.

During April-May, non-coking coal import was at 28.96 MT as compared to 22.82 MT imported during April-May period of the last financial year. Coking coal imports were recorded at 9.15 MT, higher than 6.41 MT imported during April-May of previous financial year.

"The firm prices in the seaborne market coupled with higher availability of domestic coal led to a drop in imports in May on a monthly basis. Import volumes are expected to remain subdued in the ongoing monsoon season due to lower demand, firm prices and high freight rates," mjunction Services MD and CEO Vinaya Varma said.