India registered an 11% quarter-on-quarter decline in coking coal imports due to escalated prices, although the year-on-year figures saw a slight 3% uptick, according to the latest LSEG Workspace coal research quarterly report for Q4-2023. Despite the slump in imports, the robust demand fundamentals for coking coal persisted.
From Australia, India’s leading source for coking coal, the imports fell 17% sequentially but remained steady year-on-year. Conversely, imports from Russia dropped by 16% sequentially but surged 56% on a year-on-year basis. The United States saw an 8% increase in coking coal shipments to India in the third quarter, which was a decrease from the previous year by 7%.
The report also detailed a 17% year-on-year reduction in India’s thermal coal imports in the three months to the end of September, attributed to the hike in seaborne prices, which has particularly impacted India, a price-sensitive market. However, from South Africa, thermal coal imports into India rose by 25% in Q3, reflecting a return to traditional trade patterns amid a decrease in European demand.
Indonesia, a significant exporter of thermal coal to India, reported a robust increase of 52% over the previous quarter and a 24% rise year-on-year, driven by India’s growing coal-fired power generation demand. U.S. thermal coal exports to India also marked a substantial increase, soaring 183.4% year-on-year and 73.9% over the last quarter, signaling strong demand in the Indian power generation sector.
Further cementing its role as a primary coal importer, India’s inbound shipments from South Africa jumped by 117.9% year-on-year to 8.29 million tonnes, underlining India’s critical position in the global coal trade landscape amidst fluctuating import patterns.