India’s imports of coal from South Africa fell 21% in the first half of 2011 from a year earlier while Chinese purchases rose 18%, according to India Coal Market Watch, published by online trading company mjunction.
Bloomberg reports that purchases by India shrank to 7.55-million metric tonnes through June, with imports last month almost unchanged from a year earlier at 1.2-mt, according to mjunction. China’s imports increased to 3.14-mt in January to June.
SA supplied 27.42-mt of the fuel globally in the first six months of the year, according to the note. Exports in June, at 4.78-mt, were 19% higher than a year earlier.
Coal prices at South Africa’s Richards Bay, which the operator says is the world’s single largest coal-export terminal, fell 0.5% to US$117.06 a tonne in the week ended July 1, data from UK-based researcher IHS McCloskey showed.
China and India accounted for about 39% of exports of the fuel from SA in the first half, according to mjunction.
Asia imported 17.7-mt of coal from SA in the first half, up 1.7% from a year earlier, while supplies to Atlantic-area nations were 9.55-mt, 6% higher.
