India's coal import rises 8% to 186 MT in Apr-Dec

India's coal import increased by 7.6 percent to 185.88 million tonnes (MT) in the April-December period of the current fiscal. Coal imports in December rose by 13.3 percent to 20.52 MT compared to 18.10 MT in the year-ago month, according to provisional data by mjunction services.

Non-coking coal imports were at 14.21 MT in December 2019 against 12.5 MT in December 2018. Coking coal imports were at 4.47 MT against 3.76 MT imported in December 2018. "There was slight uptick in import activities during the month, thanks to the recovery in steel prices and steady demand from sectors like cement and sponge iron," mjunction MD and CEO Vinaya Varma said.

Going forward, import demand may subside a little due to current volatility in non-coking coal prices and increased supply of coal from domestic sources, he said. mjunction -- a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL -- is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

During the April-December period, coal and coke imports were at 185.88 MT, up by 7.66 percent compared to 172.65 MT in the same period last year. India imported 235.2 million tonnes of coal in 2018-19 valued at Rs 1.7 lakh crore.