Coal news and updates

India’s Nov coal imports from SA dip 13% m-o-m

India Coal Market Watch

December 22: India’s imports of coal from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in South Africa (SA) stood at 3,129,889 tons in November 2015 against 3,617,443 seen in the preceding month of October, recording a decrease of 13.48% month-on-month, according to data available with ICMW.

However, imports of the fuel in November 2015, on a year-on-year basis, rose 29.23% compared to 2,421,908 reported in the same month in 2014, indicating that due to decreased domestic production of late, demand for the fuel from overseas has risen.

However, total imports of the fuel in the first eight months of the current fiscal of 2015-16 (April-November) stood at 24,847,582 tons against 22,094,036 tons recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal, showing an increase of 12.46%.

When the first 11 months of the calendar are considered (January-November, 2015), imports of the material were at 32,768,296tons, up 22.96% compared to 26,649,766 tons recorded in the same period of the previous calendar.

In fact, India accounted for as much as 47.98% of the total 68.29 mt of total coal exported through RBCT in the first 11 months of 2015. This percentage is higher compared to India’s share of 42.11% at 26.65 mt against RBCT’s total exports of 63.29 mt in the same period of calendar 2014.

Following table gives details of India's monthly coal imports from RBCT in 2015 and 2014 (in tons):