India's thermal coal imports up 1.3% in April-May

The Dollar Business Bureau

India's thermal coal imports through 12 major public sector ports increased 1.3% at 18.33 million MT during April-May this year, from 18.09 million MT in the corresponding period previous year, as per the data released by Indian Ports Association on Wednesday.

However, coking coal imports have decreased 8.4% to 8.7 million MT in the period of review against 9.5 million MT during the same period last year, according to the data.

During the first two months of this financial year, Paradip port handled the maximum share of thermal coal imports at 5.1 million MT with 4% growth from 4.9 million MT in the previous year period.

Another port in the east coast of India, Kolkata port has seen 17.8% decline in the shipments of coking coal at 2.3 million MT, over 2.8 million MT in the same period a year ago.

The 12 government-owned ports include Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Kandla. The two ports of Chennai and JNPT have not received any coal shipments during the two-month period.