By Greg Holt

November 14, 2019 - Indian coking coal imports moving through 12 key state-controlled ports during April-October have contracted amid weakness in the steel sector.

India imported 33.4mn t during April-October, the first seven months of the 2019-20 fiscal year, up by 6.9pc from the same period last year, according to data from the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

But April-September import data showed a 15pc increase over the previous year, indicating that feedstock requirements from Indian steel producers had diminished as they scaled back production amid weaker demand, especially from the domestic auto industry.

The downturn in volumes were also an early sign that Indian coking coal imports for 2019-20 might not overtake total 2018-19 volumes of 57.5mn t, as had been expected following the consolidation of much of the country's steel industry.

The IPA data do not include a breakdown of which countries exported coking coal to India. Only nine of the 12 ports covered by the IPA data received coking coal shipments during April-October.

The port of Kolkata handled the largest share of coking coal imports during the period at 9.98mn t but that was down by 4.3pc from a year earlier. The total included 8.95mn t received at Haldia and 1.47mn t arriving at the Kolkata Dock System.

Coking coal imports at Paradip were 7.27mn t during April-October, down by 1.1pc. Imports at Mormugao in Goa state increased by 32pc to 4.59mn t, while volumes at the port of Vizag rose by 30pc to 4.77mn t.

Imports at Chidambaranar, Tamil Nadu totalled 3.54mn t, while volumes at Mumbai and New Mangalore were 1.68mn t and 506,000t respectively.

The port of Ennore received 499,000t, while Deendayal port imported 610,000t. But the ports of Chennai, Cochin and Jawaharla Nehru did not take any coking coal imports during the seven-month period.