India’s remains key export market for Indonesian coal

India remains the biggest export market for Indonesian coal even as exports of the same to China rebounded in November 2014.

According to IHS McCloskey data, India imported 8.2 million tonnes of coal from Indonesia that month, compared to 4.9 million tonnes from China, which imported 2.9 million tonnes in October 2014.

In 2014, India displaced China as the biggest customer of Indonesian coal, as a drop in coal prices made China impose import duties to protect its domestic miners. A slowdown in the Chinese economy and a need to clean up pollution has also discouraged coal imports.

Total shipments to China from January-November 2014 reached 58.6 million tonnes - down more than 27% YoY. Over the same period, total Indonesian shipments to India stood at 79.4 million tonnes, up 11% YoY.

Shipments out of Indonesia for November grew more than 3% to more than 24 million tonnes from October's 23.2 million tonnes.

Indonesian officials had expected shipments out of Indonesia would drop in November after the implementation of the ET (Registered Exporter's License) in October.