Indian coking coal imports moving through 12 key state-controlled ports fell in April from a year earlier, as demand was reduced by Covid-19 lockdowns and steel mills’ blast furnace shutdowns.

Indian coking coal imports fell by 17pc to 4.28mn t from 5.16mn t a year earlier, according to data from the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

The IPA data do not include a breakdown of which countries exported coking coal to India. Only eight of the 12 ports covered by the IPA data received coking coal shipments in April.

The port of Kolkata received the largest coking coal imports with 1.03mn t in April, down by 42pc from 1.78mn t a year earlier. The total included 836,000t received at Haldia and 194,000t arriving at the Kolkata Dock System.

April imports into Paradip fell by 8pc to 986,000t from 913,000t a year earlier. Imports into Mormugao in Goa state fell by 2pc to 819,000t, with imports into the port of Visakhapatnam down by 4pc to 542,000t.

Imports at Chidambaranar, Tamil Nadu were 517,000t, while volumes at Mumbai and New Mangalore were 231,000t and 109,000t respectively. The port of Deendayal received 41,000t of coking coal.

The ports of Ennore, Chennai, Cochin and Jawaharla Nehru did not take any coking coal imports in April.