Coal imports rise 12% to 19 MT in September on improved consumption

India's coal import rose 11.6 per cent to 19.04 million tonnes in September on account of a recovery in consumption by thermal power plants and other industries as also helped by competitive prices in international markets.

The country imported 17.06 million tonnes (MT) of coal in September 2019, showed data available with mjunction services limited.

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.

"The steady recovery in consumption by thermal power plants and other industries coupled with competitive prices in the international markets led to a resurgence of demand for imports ahead of the festive season," mjunction Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vinaya Varma said.

The outlook for imports remains uncertain as it depends on the sustainability of operations and growth in consuming sectors in the coming months" Varma noted.

Of total imports in September, non-coking coal's shipment was 11.97 MT as against 11.81 MT in the year-ago period. Coking coal import increased to 4.58 MT as compared to 3.54 MT in September last fiscal.

However, in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal, India's coal import dropped to 95.30 MT from 125.35 MT in the same period a year ago, it said.

"For the April-September period, total coal and coke imports stood at 95.30 MT, about 23.97 per cent lower than 125.35 MT imported during April-September last fiscal," the data showed.