Indian PCI, met coke imports rise in January

Indian pulverised coal injection (PCI) grade imports rose in January from a month earlier, as India increased its offtake from Russia, while metallurgical coke imports also increased.

Indian PCI imports in January rose by 21pc from the previous month to 1.09mn t but fell by 17pc compared with a year earlier, according to data from e-commerce firm Mjunction.

PCI imports from top supplier Australia fell by 9pc against the previous month to 740,834t and were down by 25pc against a year earlier. Shipments from Russia in January increased more than threefold from the previous month to 322,664t. The increase in Russian imports came as India diversified away from Australia and Russian PCI producers offered discounts.

India's met coke imports in January were 324,652t, nearly double that of the previous month. The largest share of coke imports was from Japan with 100,487t, an increase of 73pc from the previous month as Japanese mills increased coke battery capacity and creating a surplus of met coke in the country. Other met coke exporters to India in January were Poland with 69,013t, Colombia 44,620t, Russia 39,000t and Australia with 38,500t.

India imported 3.95mn t of coking coal in January, down by 11pc from the previous month but an increase of 19pc against a year earlier.

Imports from main supplier Australia fell by 19pc against the previous month to 2.75mn t, while shipments from the US fell by 24pc to 323,579t. India in January also imported 310,448t from Canada, 265,520t from Indonesia, 185,221t from Russia and 116,036t from Mozambique.

The Argus spot price assessment for premium low-volatile hard coking coal averaged $151.18/t fob Australia in January, up by 10.6pc from the December average of $136.73/t fob.

By Dylan Wong