Steel industry growth hikes India's coal imports by 8% to 134 mt in Apr-Oct

India's coal imports rose by 7.9 per cent to 134.46 million tonnes (MT) in the first seven months of the current fiscal, according to mjunction services.

The country imported 124.57 million tonnes of coal in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

"During April-October 2018-19, India's coal and coke imports stood at 134.46 MT, about 7.9 per cent increase over 124.57 MT recorded for the same period last year," mjunction services, a joint venture e-commerce platform of Tata Steel and SAIL, said.

However, there was a 6.8 per cent drop in coal and coke imports in October as compared to 19.77 MT imported during the same month last financial year.

Commenting on the coal import trend, mjunction CEO Vinaya Varma said, "India's thermal coal demand remained buoyant due to the coal shortage in the power sector. However, there was an expectation of further corrections in spot coal prices, which might have delayed some procurement plans. In the met coal segment, a healthy growth in the steel industry and expectation of a price rise led to higher volumes."

Coal and coke imports during October through 31 major and non-major ports are estimated to have increased by 3.55 per cent over September in the ongoing financial year.

The government had earlier said that during 2017-18, coal imports increased to 208.27 MT due to increase in demand by consuming sectors.