India: Coking coal imports fall 9% m-o-m in Aug'23 amid limited high-grade supplies

India's coking coal imports in August 2023 dropped 9% m-o-m at 4.75 million tonnes (mnt), as per CoalMint data. Imports picked up by 2% y-o-y compared to 4.66 mnt in August 2022.

State-run miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), posted double-digit growth in coking coal production during August. Production rose by 47% y-o-y to 4.70 mnt against 3.2 mnt in August 2022.

In the Australia market, firm demand persisted but was met with limited supply of PHCC. The market continued at well-supported levels for PHCC as supply for September and October is expected to remain lacklustre.

Amid limited supply of Australian PHCC, more mills will start to consider swapping their met coal procurement to consider met coke instead due to cost effectiveness.

PCI Imports:

India's PCI coal imports in August remained largely stable m-o-m to 1.64 mnt, as per CoalMint data. Imports increased by nearly 58% y-o-y compared to 1.04 mnt in August 2022.

Prices of Australian low-volume PCI coal dropped 11% m-o-m to $157.24/t in August as against $177.08/t in July.

Country-wise coking coal imports

India's coking coal imports from Australia stood at 2.74 mnt in August as against 3.43 mnt in June, down 20% m-o-m.

Shipments from the US were recorded at 0.83 mnt as compared to 0.60 mnt in July. Shipments from Russia dropped 10% m-o-m to 0.48 mnt in August as against 0.54 mnt in July.

In contrast, shipments from Canada and Mozambique rose by 67% and 4%, respectively.

Exports from Colombia were nil in the month under review.

Company-wise imports

Qty in mnt

JSW Steel recorded the highest imports at 1.35 mnt, up 54% m-o-m as against 0.88 mnt in July. SAIL recorded a sharp 20% drop in monthly import volumes at 1.03 mnt followed by Tata Steel at 0.87 mnt. Moreover, RINL and NMDC recorded a drop of 56% and 51%, respectively.

Vedanta and Electrosteel Casting recorded a significant surge in import shipments in the month under review.

Port- wise imports

Qty in mnt

Dhamra port received the highest import volumes of 0.88 mnt, followed by Paradip at 0.72 mnt. Haldia and Vizag ports received 0.70 mnt and 0.38 mnt, respectively. Jaigarh recorded a significant rise of 89% in the month under review.

Outlook

With rising domestic production and limited availability of material, it is anticipated that imports may drop in the near term. Also, the current transacted levels of coal are not feasible for steel industries, prompting buyers to lower their bids, resulting in a wide bid-offer disparity. Such adjustments have led to a significant bid-offer disparity, potentially diminishing trading activities.