Domestic thermal coal supplies to Indian cement makers rose on the year in November and from October, with producers increasing coal use to benefit from its competitive pricing vis-a-vis petroleum coke.
Cement makers received 730,000t of domestic coal in November, up by 1.6pc from 720,000t a year earlier, India's coal ministry data show. Receipts in April-November — the first eight months of India's April 2025-March 2026 fiscal year — were up by almost 23pc on the year at 6.33mn t. Receipts rose by 14pc from 640,000t in October, indicating an uptick in cement output and demand in the dry season after the monsoon rains.
The increase was also partly supported by the removal of a 400 rupees/t ($4.43/t) levy on coal effective 22 September. Higher domestic coal supplies have enabled cement plants to increase the share of coal in their fuel mix. Cement plants use coal and coke as fuel in cement making. Most plants can switch between coal and coke to take advantage of lower costs.
The recent increase in cfr prices and offers of seaborne high-sulphur coke may also have prompted some cement plants to expand reliance on domestic coal, but most producers still need to blend coke in certain ratios to use the locally available coal.
A weakening of the rupee against the dollar may also be triggering a preference for domestic coal compared with imported fuel. The rupee averaged Rs88.88 to the dollar in November, compared with Rs88.37 in October. It has slipped further and averaged Rs90.08 so far this month, after hitting a record low of Rs91 on 16 December.
January-loading Supramax cargoes of US high-sulphur coke are being offered in the high-$110s/t cfr on India's west coast. The Argus-assessed index for the delivered India price of 6.5pc sulphur coke was last marked at an over eight-month high of $118/t cfr on 10 December.
Indian coal supplies to non-power consumers, such as cement plants and steel mills, increased in the first eight months of the current fiscal year because of higher availability and lower demand from coal-fired power plants.
Higher domestic coal supply to cement plants and a partial replacement of coke usage may be partly limiting India's overall appetite for imported coke in 2025 so far.
Indian cement makers received 1.06mn t of seaborne coke in October, down by 13pc from a year earlier and lower from 1.09mn t in September, according to data from shipbroker Interocean. Cement makers' cumulative imports over January-October stood at 9.06mn t, compared with 9.42mn t a year earlier.
