COAL IMPORTS - ECONOMY
News: Coal
imports rose 30% in FY23 to 162mt on demand
What's in the news?
● India's coal imports
increased by 30% to 162.46 million tonnes
in the 2022-23 financial year against 124.99 MT in the year-ago period,
according to a report.
Key takeaways:
● The
import of coking coal rose 5.44% to 54.46 MT over 51.65 MT in FY22, said in its
latest report.
● India is among the top
five coal-producing countries in the world.
However, some parts of its coal requirement are met through imports as the
country is also among the major consumers of the dry fuel.
● For
coking coal — a key raw material used in steel making — the country remains
heavily dependent on imports.
Coal:
● Coal
is a combustible black sedimentary rock,
formed as rock strata called coal seams.
● Coal
is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements - chiefly hydrogen,
sulphur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
● Coal
supplies about a quarter of the world’s primary energy and two-fifths of its
electricity.
● India
has the fifth largest coal reserves in the world.
● India
is the second largest producer of coal in the world, after China.
Coal Imports - Stats:
Go back to basics:
Types of Coal:
Anthracite:
● It
is the best quality coal.
● It
contains about 80 to 90 percent carbon.
● It
is hard coal.
● In
India, it is mainly found in the district of Reasi in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir.
● It
has very low moisture content and ignites slowly and burns with a nice short
blue flame.
Bituminous:
● It
is the most widely available and used
coal.
● It
contains about 40 to 75 percent carbon.
● Its
calorific value is very high due to the high proportion of carbon and low
moisture.
● It
is used in the production of coke and gas.
● It
is soft, dense, compact, and is usually of black color.
● Moisture
and volatile content is around 15 to 40 %.
Lignite:
● Lignite,
referred to as brown coal, is a
soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed
peat.
● It
has a carbon content of around 25–35% and
is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content.
● Lignite
is mined all around the world and is used almost exclusively as a fuel for
steam-electric power generation.
● The
combustion of lignite produces less heat for the amount of carbon dioxide and
sulfur released than other ranks of coal.
Peat:
● It
is the middle stage in the process of coal formation.
● It
contains less than 40 percent carbon.
It has more impurities.
● The
parts of the wood are remarkably present in it.
● It
contains lots of moisture and volatile material.
● It
emits more smoke and leaves a lot of ash.