The country’s coal import rose 15.1% to 23.63 million tonnes in December 2020 from 20.52 MT in the year-ago month.
Non-coking coal imports were at 15.63 MT in December against 14.21 MT a year earlier. Coking coal imports were at 5.36 MT against 4.47 MT in December 2019-20, according to provisional data compiled by mjunction Services—a joint venture between Tata Steel Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd. is a B2B e-commerce company and publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.
“Coal demand from utilities moved up due to higher generation in December. This, coupled with a gradual recovery in industrial activities and expectations of further firming up of international prices, led to increased volumes,” said Vinaya Varma, managing director and chief executive officer at mjunction Services.
The country’s coal and coke import through major and non-major ports, however, dropped 13.5% to 160.79 MT in the April-December period of the ongoing fiscal from 185.88 MT a year ago.
During the April-December period of FY21, non-coking coal import was at 107.07 MT against 128.26 MT a year ago. Coking coal imports were recorded at 33.54 MT during the period against 37.20 MT a year ago.