MMTC's coal imports to drop one-third in 2011-12

MMTC Ltd, one of India's biggest importer of non-ferrous metals, expects its coal imports to tumble by 33 per cent in the current financial year, mainly on account of a lower import order by India's largest power generation utility- National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC).

The fall in imports is likely to have a bearing on the trading company's profit margins, as coal is one of the significant contributors to its bottom line.

"In 2010-11, our coal imports stood at 15 million tonnes of which we had imported 12 million tonnes only for NTPC. We see our coal imports dropping to 10 million tonnes this fiscal due to a lower import order by NTPC", the company's chairman cum managing director H S Mann told media persons here.

Mann refused to specify the quantum of coal import order by NTPC for 2011-12 while admitting that minerals trade, including coal, was one of the major contributors to MMTC's bottomline.

Separately, the country's biggest foreign trade enterprise was looking to foray into coal mining. The PSU has been allocated the Gomia coal block in Jharkhand with indicated coking coal reserve of around 1100 million tonnes.

"MMTC has been granted the Prospecting License (PL) for the Gomia coal block by the Ministry of Mines nearly 4-5 months back. The company has already conducted the pre-feasibility study and will now be doing the detailed exploration of the block. We will be floating a tender within two months for selection of a mine developer", he said.

Asked if iron ore exports would be impacted due to a four-fold hike in export duty, Mann said, "Our iron ore exports would be substantially affected but we are looking to renew our long-term contracts with the ore buyers in Japan and Korea".

Meanwhile, the company has targeted a turnover of Rs 65,000 crore in 2011-12, on the back of a robust growth in gold and silver exports. The country's biggest gold importer, expects to import 275 tonnes of gold this fiscal as against 245 tonnes in 2010-11 while silver imports are set to surge 50 per cent to reach 1200 tonnes.

While the precious metals division was one of the major contributors to MMTC's topline, the company expected its agri-products division to contribute Rs 1500 crore this fiscal compared to around Rs 1200 crore in the previous fiscal. Within the agri-products portfolio, edible oils had a share of 8-10 per cent.

On the upcoming Follow-on Public Offer of MMTC, Mann said, "The modalities are yet to be decided. Presently, we have three independent directors on our board and five more independent directors are in the process of finalization."