Coal imports during the month of July decreased by 11.14% to 18.03 million tonnes (MT), as against 20.29 MT during the same month last year due to higher domestic availability of fossil fuel. According to mjunction services, an online procurement and sales platform jointly floated by SAIL and Tata Steel, of the total coal imported, non-coking coal was highest at 12.39 MT, followed by coking coal at 3.76 MT, pet coke at 1.05 MT, among others.
CEO and MD of mjunction services Viresh Oberoi has said that the decline in July imports this year against last year can be attributed to number of factors, including monsoon, when imports generally come down. Firmness in international coal prices since beginning of June and higher availability of domestic coal also impacted imports. Further he said that with many imported coal-based load power plants operating at lower utilisation, the overall volume of imports is likely to remain flat.
The government had earlier said that coal imports will further come down in the ongoing fiscal on account of increased domestic output. Imports in May declined by 19.2 per cent to 16.38 MT and in April fell by 15 per cent to 15.9 MT. Further, Coal India (CIL), which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic output, has set the output target at 598 MT for current financial year.