More Indian PCI imports come from Russia, Canada

Indian imports of the pulverised coal injection (PCI) grade used for steel production fell to this year's lowest level in October as more Australian imports were replaced with PCI from Russia and Canada.

India imported 736,034t of PCI in October, down by 9.7pc from the previous month as weaker steel prices triggered production cuts, but they were up by 33pc from the same month last year as more mills were upgraded for PCI utilisation.

Australia was still the top supplier of PCI to India in October at 403,842t but this was down by 19pc from September, according to data from e-commerce firm Mjunction. Russian shipments to India fell more slowly by 13pc to 228,007t, as Russian PCI producers offered discounts to gain market share over their Australian competitors.

Indian trading firms also imported 74,185t of PCI from Canada in October, the largest volume sourced from outside Australia or Russia this year.

But as Australian PCI producers lost some ground in India, Australian metallurgical coke producers made further inroads in the country.

India's met coke imports in October were 284,257t, up by 200pc from September, as buying met coke became more cost effective than seaborne coking coal. Australia had the largest share of that total with 70,408t, followed by Poland with 65,858t, Russia with 58,235t, Japan with 33,500t and Colombia with 29,819t.

China only exported 2,375t of met coke to India in October, as export prices above $265/t fob China for 62 CSR met coke were considerably more than offers from other countries at around $240-250/t because of higher Chinese coking coal feedstock costs.

Indian coking coal imports in October fell by 21pc to 3.79mn, also the lowest level this year and a drop of 11pc from the same month in 2018. Australia remained the largest coking coal supplier to India with 2.21mn t, down by 2.2pc from September.

Coking coal imports from the US fell by 37pc in October to 233,150t, while imports from Canada dropped by 63pc to 192,408t. Imports from Mozambique were down by 15pc to 152,936t.

The Argus spot price assessment for premium low-volatile hard coking coal averaged $147.67/t fob Australia in October, up by 4.8pc from $140.96/t on the same basis in September.

By Gregory Holt

Indian PCI imports ('000t)