India's thermal coal imports in March fell on the year for the seventh consecutive month, pressured by rising domestic output and high inventories even as coal-fired generation expanded.

The country imported 14.1mn t of thermal coal in March, down by 1.2pc from a year earlier, but up by over 24pc from 11.33mn t in February, according to data from shipbroker Interocean. Coal arrivals declined year-on-year across key origins barring Indonesia and South Africa.

India's cumulative imports over January-March stood at 38.3mn t, down by 8.6pc from 41.9mn t in the same period a year earlier, according to Interocean data.

Demand for imported coal fell as domestic availability continued to rise. The combined output from state-controlled Coal India (CIL), Singareni Collieries (SCCL) and captive blocks reached 118.54mn t in March, up by 1.6pc from a year earlier, according to data from the country's coal ministry. Overall supplies stood at 94.94mn t, up by 5.1pc from a year earlier.

Combined coal supplies to utilities from domestic sources stood at 78.46mn t in March, up by 6.3pc from a year earlier and up from 69.61mn t in February, coal ministry data show.

The increase in domestic coal output and supplies helped utilities to increase stocks to cater for an increase in coal consumption at power plants in March. But the higher domestic coal availability pressured imports.

The country's coal-fired generation reached 117.95TWh in March, up from 112.82TWh a year earlier and well above the 106.18TWh in February, according to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data. Higher temperatures and increased air conditioning use lifted coal-fired output in March. Coal burn at utilities could remain elevated over the summer months and exacerbate drawdowns from stocks at power plants and at coal producer CIL.

Combined coal inventories at Indian power plants stood at 58.11mn t as of 31 March, up from 50.69mn t a year earlier, and up from 54.59mn t on 28 February, the CEA said. Inventories at CIL reached an all-time high of 106.8mn t as of 31 March, up from 89.41mn t a year earlier.

Import mix

Imports from Indonesia grew to 9.68mn t in March from 9.23mn t a year earlier, and were sharply higher from 6.75mn t in February, Interocean data show. Indonesia continued to be the primary supplier of imported coal to India in March, accounting for nearly 69pc of overall thermal coal imports, up from almost 60pc in February.

Imports from South Africa, a source favoured by coal-consuming industries like sponge iron, rose by 72pc from a year earlier to 2.32mn t, but fell from 2.42mn t in February. Demand from India's coal-intensive sponge iron industry, which is a major consumer of South African NAR 5,500 kcal/kg coal, remained resilient following a stimulus measure from the Indian government to introduce steel safeguards, which in turn has driven domestic sponge iron prices higher.

By Ajay Modi