In the ten months between April 2023 and January 2024, coal imports into India rose to 212 million tonnes.
The breakdown for January 2024 showed that, of total imports, non-coking coal totalled 12.10mt (million tonnes), compared to 10.01mt in January 2023. As for coking coal imports, these reached 4.50mt, slightly down on the 4.74mt reported for January 2023.
A local expert on the coal market conceded that demand for imported coal in India has weakened in early 2024, the trend continuing through the first three months of the year, which he attributed to the ample availability of domestic coal at mine pitheads and at thermal power plants.
However, coal imports in January 2024 compared to January 2023 showed growth of 16%, rising from 16.97mt to 19.81mt. This was reflected in traffic across all ports handling coal in India, which in January this year reported total coal traffic of 19.81mt compared to 16.97mt. Overall, the country saw a 1.65% increase in coal imports.