India’s coking coal imports rebounded in August from a near two-year low in July as lockdown restrictions were gradually lifted in major cities, boosting steel sales.
India imported 3.17mn t of coking coal in August, which crossed the 3mn t mark for the first time in three months. August imports increased by 35pc from 2.34mn t a month ago but declined by 40pc on the year, according to data from e-commerce firm Mjunction (see table).
The country’s January-August imports declined by 21pc from a year earlier to 26.36mn t.
Australian imports increased by 19pc from last month to 2.27mn t in August as Indian ships returned amid recovering steel demand, mainly because of a rise in domestic steel consumption. This was largely driven by a recovery in the automobile industry as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased in major cities in August.
The Argus premium low-volatile hard coking coal index averaged $120.22/t cfr India in August, down by 4pc from $124.63/t cfr India a month earlier.
India’s met coke imports hit a five-month high of 203,186t in August, an increase of 25pc from 162,590t a year earlier. Arrivals from Colombia increased six-fold from a year earlier to 72,856t in August, a new high since November 2018. Other origins included Poland at 65,366t, Japan at 43,956t, China at 874t, Kuwait at 102t and Iran at 10t. January-August met coke imports fell by 37pc on the year to 1.39mn t.
India’s pulverised coal injection (PCI) imports declined by 6pc from last month and by 23pc from a year earlier to 940,154t in August. Its January-August PCI imports fell by 17pc from a year earlier to 7.66mn t. PCI shipments from top supplier Australia dropped by 12pc from July and by 15pc on the year to 665,362 in August. India’s Russian PCI imports of 251,160t in August were lower by 43pc on the year but higher by 16pc on the month.