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Imports of coking coal, a key fuel required for steelmaking, declined by 29.6 per cent to 2.71 million tonne (mt) in December, compared with 3.85 mt shipped in December 2013.
The imports also fell from 4.3 mt shipped in November. November shipments were higher as some deliveries ordered for the month of October were shifted to next month due to cyclone Hudhud.
Traders and experts said the decline in shipments is a temporary phenomena and does not mean the imports will go down in future.
“There was a temporary decline in the last part of 2014. It does not reflect the trend we have seen for the entire year,” said Rakesh Dubey, editor of mjunction services ltd, which provides steel industry news and data.
In April-December period, the imports actually went up to 28.47 mt, up from 27.21 mt in the previous comparable period.
The imports went up because of the price fall globally and has nothing to do with domestic demand.
“The prices of coking coal are trading around $125 per tonne at Indian ports. The rates remained the same throughout 2014 and are likely to remain around same level for at least next two quarter. Indian importers are comfortable at these rates,” said Ganesh Natrajan, a coking coal trader.
Coking coal rates have slipped from $145 level since 2013 due to weak demand from China, Japan and South Korea, the major buyers, amid rising supplies from the North America and Australia.
In 2013-14, Indian steel producers imported 33.1 mt of coking coal, an increase of 18 per cent over the previous comparable period. Traders said the imports in the current financial year should not see major surge and will be slightly higher than last fiscal due to overall weakness in domestic steel mills.
Coking coal is converted into coke for use as a fuel to smelt iron ore. Major steel makers in India such as Tata Steel, JSW and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) fulfill more than half of their requirement by importing coking coal.
