Coal news and updates

Steam coal imports to continue, but at low pace: Adani

The government may be pursuing a plan to stop imports of thermal coal, but the Adani Group, like many others in the coal industry, believes that imports are here to stay though the growth rate may come down in future.

“It (import) has not actually fallen in the way it had been projected. The decline is around 8%. It was 176 million tons (mt) last year and will be around 158-160 mt this year. So the fall will be around 8-9%,” said Adani Enterprises CEO (mining and trading) Vinay Prakash told ICMW.

The decline, if at all, is coming mainly from PSUs, ie, state electricity boards (SEB), while the non-regulated sector has not seen any drop, he said.

Going forward, he said, “Our internal estimate is that imports will not come down below a certain level because we will be needing coal for blending and for quality. We will be needing coal for economic reasons also. Saying that imports will be zero is something difficult… Not only will there be imports in coastal areas, but also for plants located up to a distance of 100 km from coastal areas. Actually, we are looking for a cheaper option. Ultimately when we are pushing for ‘Make in India’, we have to see the cheapest option. If I can get Indian coal cheaper, I will go for that, but if I get imported coal cheaper, I will use the latter.”

Meanwhile, the Adani Group, Prakash said, is relatively unaffected by the little drop in imports this year and their overall market share is likely to increase from around 30-32% levels.

Asked if the declining trend in imports would affect the trading industry as a whole, he said, the industry may not see much of consolidation though “trading off will be there”.