According to the apex ports’ body Indian Ports Association (IPA), both thermal and coking coal imports at India’s 12 major ports dipped 27.93 per cent to 45.77 million tonnes (mt) in April-August 2020 over the same period a year ago.
Thermal coal imports dropped 25.42 per cent to 28.93 mt and coking coal shipments fell 31.87 per cent to 16.84 mt during this period. Coal volumes at these 12 major ports declined for the fifth straight month in August 2020. These ports had handled 38.79 mt of thermal coal and 24.72 mt of coking coal in the April-August period of the previous financial year. Together, thermal and coking coal handling saw a decline of 30.83 per cent at these ports in the April-July period at 36.7 mt.