India's thermal coke imports are down for the second consecutive year

Industry officials have said that India's thermal imports will fall in 2025 for the second consecutive year due to a decreasing reliance on coal as a power source, slowed economic activity, and record-high inventories.

The six Indian and foreign coal traders who spoke at the Coaltrans India Conference in New Delhi all expected that shipments would decline this year.

Three traders predicted that imports would plummet by about 10%, to 155 million tons. Two traders predicted a drop of 1-2% while the third forecasted a decline of 7-8%. The traders did not want to be named as they weren't authorised to talk to the media.

The lackluster outlook for India, the second-largest importer behind China of the dirty fuel, comes at a time when traders are concerned about an oversupply of coal in the global market. A lower Indian appetite for coal imports could put further pressure on prices.

Data from the consultancy Bigmint revealed that India's imports fell by about 2% in 2024 to 173 millions metric tons. This was primarily due to the booming production of Coal India, the world's biggest coal miner, which drove stockpiles to record levels at power plants.

Data from Indian coal trading company I-Energy revealed that Coal India's increased production has helped India reduce its dependence on imports over the past decade by 5.5 percentage point to 20,5% by 2024.

Data showed that the drop in imports was also due to an increase in demand for petroleum coke from the cement industry. The data indicated that the price-sensitive markets preferred the cheaper alternative.

In his presentation, Vasudev Pamanani, Director at I-Energy, said that the price of petcoke would be more competitive than thermal coal by 2025. He also noted that increased production by private mines resulted to a reduction in buying by traders.

(source: Reuters)