India's coal import rose 8% to 140.6 MT in H1, demand likely to stay modest

During the April-September period, non-coking coal import was at 91.92 MT, while coking coal import was at 28.18 MT

India's coal import rose by 7.8 per cent to 140.60 million tonne (MT) in the April-September period of the ongoing financial year.

The country's coal import was 130.34 MT in the year-ago period, according to data compiled by B2B e-commerce company mjunction services ltd.

Overall, coal import demand is likely to remain modest due to the healthy stock position and high volumes being offered through spot e-auctions in the domestic market, mjunction MD and CEO Vinaya Varma said.

Coal import in September dropped by 10.09 per cent to 19.42 MT from 21.60 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal.

Of the total imports in September, non-coking coal volume was 13.24 MT, against 14.88 MT in the year-ago month. Coking coal import stood at 3.39 MT, against 4.59 MT a year ago.

During the April-September period, non-coking coal import was at 91.92 MT, higher than 83.45 MT imported during the same period last year. Coking coal import was at 28.18 MT as against 29.44 MT.

"There was a slight increase in non-coking coal import in September (over previous month), ahead of the festive season. However, coking coal imports fell, in line with the softness in steel demand and prices," Varma said.

The country's domestic coal production rose 6 per cent to 453 MT in the April-September period of FY25, over 428 MT in the year-ago period.

Coal minister G Kishan Reddy had recently said Coal India's priorities should be to ramp up production of coal and scale up supplies to reduce imports.

Coal India Ltd accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.