India's coal imports to fall for first time since the COVID-19 pandemic amid record-high stockpiles
coal imports are expected to fall for the first time this year since the COVID-19 pandemic due to increasing domestic output and record-high inventories, industry officials said on Tuesday. Out of eleven coal traders, Reuters spoke with at the Coaltrans India conference in the western state of Goa, eight expected shipments of the fuel to decrease this year, while the others foresaw flat imports or marginal growth.
Surging production and supplies by the world's largest miner Coal India have pushed stockpiles at power plants to record highs of over 43 million metric tons, prompting it to sell more to non-power sector users such as sponge iron and aluminium smelters, which have traditionally imported the fuel. Pawan Kumar, head of coal sourcing at power producer SEIL Energy India, said he expects thermal coal imports to fall over 3% to 170 million tons, while Rodrigo Echeverri, head of research at Noble Resources, forecast a near-6% decline.
India imported 176 million tons of thermal coal in 2023, driven mainly by power plants. "Domestic production has gone up and coal is easily available at floor prices," Rajat Handa, vice president of international trade at Agarwal Coal told Reuters.
"This year, imports are not going to be higher than 160 million tons," he said, adding that many users who previously imported the fuel are switching to domestically mined coal. The projected decline in coal imports could squeeze key exporters Indonesia, South Africa and Australia, which account for about 90% of coal shipments to India, the world's second-biggest coal importer behind China.
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