Coal news and updates

India’s SA coal imports up even as overall imports dip

India Coal Market Watch

 December 3: Despite a marginal decline in India’s overall coal imports during the first seven months of 2015-16, the country’s imports of South African coal has increased more than 10%, giving indication that Indonesian coal’s share in India’s basket has declined.

 Indian companies generally import steam coal from South Africa and the increase in imports from that country comes at a time when India’s steam coal imports are estimated to have fallen by 10.14% to 94.08 million tons (mt) during the first seven months of 2015-16 as compared to 104.70 mt during the same period of 2014-15.

 According to data available with ICMW, India's total coal imports from South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) were up 22.33% to 29.64 mt during the first nine months (January-October) of 2015 compared to 24.23 mt imported during the same period of 2014.

 However, during the first seven months of 2015-16, the imports from South Africa were up by 10.42% at 21.72 mt as compared to 19.67 mt in the same period of 2014-15.

 Meanwhile, India's coal imports of all types during the first nine months of the calendar 2015 stood higher at 192.71 mt compared to 175.51 mt during the same period of 2014.

 The imports were up during the nine-month period largely because of a sharp jump of 48% in imports in the first quarter (January-March) of 2015 at 63.54 mt as compared to only 42.95 mt in the same quarter of 2014.

 Incidentally, India’s total coal imports volume is shrinking gradually from June 2015, triggered by higher availability of domestic coal following a sharp jump in Coal India Ltd’s production.

 Consequent to a gradual decline in imports from June this year, the country’s coal imports during the first seven months (April - October) of financial year 2015-16 stood lower at 129.17 mt from 132.55 mt during the seven months of 2014-15. The decline would have been much higher had there been not an increase in imports of coking coal, met coke, PCI coal and pet coke.

 Of the total imports during the first seven months, coking coal was 25.17 mt (22.20 mt in the corresponding period of 2014-15), steam coal was 94.08 t (104.70 mt), anthracite coal was 0.64 mt (0.48 mt), PCI coal was 1.92 mt (1.29 mt), met coke was 1.84 mt (1.33 mt) and petroleum coke was 5.52 mt (2.55 mt).

 The primary reason for about 48% increase in the January-October 2015 period and 10.42% increase in April-October, 2015-16 from South Africa was a soft price trend that appears to have prompted Indian companies to import more coal from South Africa, industry sources said.

 India has always been a price-sensitive market and the buyers, particularly cement-makers, took advantage of the soft trend in South African coal prices by reducing their procurement of Indonesian coal, the sources said.

 That the steam coal imports from South Africa rose, despite overall fall in imports during the seven months of the current financial year is an indication that the share of Indonesian coal in India’s procurement has fallen,” they added

 According to ICMW’s data, the average price of standard South African coal (6,000 Kcal/kg NAR) has fallen by about 21% between January-October, 2015 to $58.52 per ton from a high of $74.19 per ton during the same period of 2014.

 The decline in the average price of South African coal between April and October, 2015 was also around 21% at about $56.80 per ton from $71.91 per ton in the same period of 2014.