Coal imports to rise as India grapples with train shortage, surging demand

Train shortage in India left about 10 power stations without spare coal supplies, 45 other plants with stockpiles that are less than seven days of consumption

Caught between logistical bottlenecks and surging demand from power plants, India will likely increase coal imports in 2018, industry executives said, in what would be a setback to the government’s plans to cut the country’s dependence on foreign supplies.

The projected higher coal demand, which would reverse two years of declines, will be a boon for international miners such as Indonesia’s Adaro Energy, Australia’s Whitehaven Coal or global commodity merchant Glencore.

But, the country’s power plants and cement makers, the source of the resurgent demand, will end up eating the cost of the higher-priced imports.

State-owned Coal India, the world’s second-biggest coal miner