Domestic coal import rises 13% in Feb to 21.64 MT ahead of summer

India's coal import rose by 13 per cent to 21.64 million tonnes (MT) in February as some buyers took fresh positions to replenish stocks ahead of summer, according to online marketplace mjunction.

The country's coal import was 19.15 MT in the corresponding month of FY23.

"Coal imports in February 2024 were up by 13 per cent as against 19.15 MT in February 2023," as per the data compiled by mjunction.

Of the total import in February, non-coking coal import increased to 13.77 MT compared to 11.68 MT imported in the year-ago period.

"Coking coal volume was 4.56 MT, against 4.40 MT imported in February 2023," it said.

The country's coal import also went up to 244.27 MT in the April-February period of FY24 over 227.93 MT in the year-ago period, the online marketplace said.

During the April-February period of FY24, non-coking coal import was at 160.63 MT, higher than 148.58 MT imported in the same period of FY23.

Coking coal import was at 51.87 MT during the April-February period of FY24, up against 50.50 MT recorded for April-February 2022-23.

"There was an increase in volumes as some buyers took fresh positions to replenish stocks ahead of the summer season, amidst softening of seaborne prices," mjunction managing director and chief executive officer Vinaya Varma said.

India produced 880.72 million tonnes of coal in the April-February period of FY24.