JSW plans to boost its thermal coal trading operations, underscoring the conglomerate’s aim of tapping growing opportunities in the seaborne coal markets. The steel-to-power group expects to import about 20 MT of thermal coal in the 2019-20 fiscal year ending 31 March, of which around 13mn t will be sourced for its power and steel businesses and 7 MT for its coal trading business. JSW aims to raise imports to about 23 MT from 2021-22, lifting the foreign seaborne coal handled by its trading business to around 10 MT, a company official said on the sidelines of the Coaltrans India conference in Goa.
JSW imported about 18 MT of thermal coal in 2018-19, with trading volumes accounting for about 5 MT. The group’s requirement is expected to remain steady as the bulk of the coal it imports is used primarily by its 1.2 GW Ratnagiri power plant on India’s west coast and its 860 MW Vijaynagar plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.