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Coking coal intakes in India experienced an 11% decline to 4.41 million tonnes in October, mainly attributed to a significant 33% drop in shipments from Australia compared to the same period last year, according to data from SteelMint.
The decline in Australian deliveries came following increased prices of the vital raw material for steelmaking.
However, there was a 7% month-on-month increase in imports for October, indicating a slight recovery. This can be ascribed to soaring industrial demand and the urgent need to secure coking coal supplies, especially with the depleting stocks at ports, local media reported.
During October, the prices of premium hard coking coal hit one of the highest points at $365/t, compared to around $311/t in September.
Given India's limited domestic production of coking coal, the imports were largely bolstered by the growth in crude steel output, said Alexis Ellender, lead major dry bulks analyst at Kpler.
In September, crude steel output increased 18.2% year on year to 11.63 million tonnes, contributing to an annual growth rate of 11.59% in the year-to-date. This growth closely matched the 9.40% increase in coking coal imports during the first ten months of the year, Ellender added.
He expected strong crude steel output to continue in the coming months as industrial activity has picked up after the monsoon season, which will likely result in further robust coking coal imports.
Coal India, the country's largest coal miner, reported an 8% month-on-month rise in coking coal production to 4.53 million tonnes in October.
Owing to the surging prices of Australian coking coal, end-users are exploring imports from Russia and other countries. Shipments from Canada and the US also increased month on month, according to a steel ministry official.
Nevertheless, Australia remained the largest supplier to India's steel mills in October despite the slump, with shipments totaling 2.43 million tonnes. The US was the second-largest seller, with 0.68 million tonnes of shipments for the month, representing a 107% year-on-year increase.
Russia surpassed Indonesia and Mozambique to become the third-highest supplier of coking coal to India at 0.49 million tonnes, up 96% from 0.25 million tonnes in the previous year.
For the first seven months of this fiscal (April-October 2023), India imported a total 33.40 million tonnes of coal, down 2% on the year compared to 34.14 million tonnes last year. Australia remained the largest supplier with 20.17 million tonnes, down 12% year on year, while shipments from the US increased 9% to 4.97 million tonnes.
Russia, the third-largest supplier, saw its coal supply to India surge 210% year on year from 1.12 million tonnes a year ago to 3.46 million tonnes over April-October.
(Writing by Riley Liang Editing by Emma Yang)
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