The country’s coal imports rose 4.2 percent to 162.45 million tonnes (MT) in the April-October period of the current fiscal, as against 155.87 MT in the same period a year ago.
According to data compiled by B2B e-commerce platform mjunction Services, coal imports fell 14.4 percent to 21.84 MT in October, as against 25.54 MT in the same period last fiscal.
Of the total imports in October, non-coking coal imports stood at 13.49 MT, as against 18.82 MT in the same period last fiscal. Coking coal imports stood at 4.45 MT, as against 4.31 MT in the same period last fiscal.
In September, non-coking coal imports stood at 13.24 MT and coking coal imports at 3.39 MT.
Mjunction MD and CEO Vinay Verma said, “Non-coking coal volumes increased marginally (month-on-month) in October as buyers took new positions during the festive month and ahead of the winter season. Going forward, demand is likely to remain moderate due to the expected increase in domestic supply during the fourth quarter (Q4).”
Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy had recently urged the steel sector to reduce dependence on imported coal and make necessary changes in technology. The minister had said that coal imports should be reduced in a phased manner.
The steel industry uses coking coal. The minister had also expressed hope that the coal production target of 1,080 million tonnes for the current fiscal would be met.
