With steel mills looking into less expensive options, such as Russian coal, as opposed to more conventional but more expensive supplies from Australia, India’s imports of coking coal grew by almost 3% to 54.33 million tonnes (mt) in FY23.
Shipments into India totaled 53.04 mt in FY22. Australian coking coal shipments decreased 13% year over year (y-o-y) to 36.13 mt in the most recent fiscal year from 41.65 mt in FY22, according to data compiled by Steelmint. However, the few major winners during this time were the USA, Indonesia, and Russia.
The second-largest supplier of goods to India, the USA, sent a total of 7.04 mt, an increase of 91% year over year. Shipments from Indonesia increased 132% to 2.90 mt in the most recent fiscal year compared to just 1.25 mt in the same period last year. With 2.82 mt, a 53% rise, it replaced Canada as the third-largest producer of coking coal, while the supply of Russian coking coal climbed by 40% year over year to 2.27 mt. Russia remained one of the top six suppliers, nevertheless.
Coking coal supply entering India from Mozambique increased by 50% or more in FY23 to 2.79 mt, according to Steelmint data. The rise coincided with some Indian steel mills, particularly secondary ones, attempting to employ coal from the continent of Africa as a substitute blending option in their furnaces.
