In the next six years, India will add as much additional coal demand as the entire nation of Germany. Clyde Russell of Reuters reports:
BAMBOLIN, India, Feb 28 (Reuters) – India’s coal sector is united about one thing. It doesn’t matter if you are a miner, trader, utility or steelmaker, you are bullish, extremely bullish.
The overarching theme at this week annual Coaltrans India conference in the western state of Goa is that coal production, imports and demand are all going to rise in coming years, and by substantial volumes.
India may have committed to eventually starting to phase down consumption of the polluting fuel on its road to net-zero emissions by a targeted 2070, but for the coming decade the coal industry sees a ramp up.
Even the most cautious of forecasts at the conference saw demand for all grades of coal reaching 1.5 billion metric tons by 2030, with some reaching as high as 1.9 billion.
To put that in context, India’s coal demand was 1.23 billion tons, composed of domestic production of 964 million tons and imports of around 266 million.
Put another way, even the more pessimistic of forecasts expects an increase of nearly 300 million tons of coal demand in India in the next six years, an increase of 25%.
To put the scale of the increase in context, 300 million tons is more than the total annual demand of Germany, the fourth-biggest coal-consuming nation after China, India and the United States.
