[SMM Sheets & Plates Daily Review] Sheets & Plates Prices Continue to Pull Back

Russian coal exports to India declined 2% year on year to 14.5 Mt in the first half of 2026, a reduction of 0.3 Mt. India’s total coal imports fell by a sharper 9.4% to 118.9 Mt, down 12.4 Mt. Because Russian volumes declined more slowly than the overall Indian import market, Russia’s share increased by 0.9 percentage points to 12.2%. Performance among major suppliers was mixed. Indonesian shipments to India fell 17.4% to 42.8 Mt, South African volumes declined 14.1% to 16.4 Mt, and Australian shipments edged down 0.6% to 16.7 Mt. US deliveries, meanwhile, increased 9.1% to 13.2 Mt. The figures indicate that India’s overall import demand contracted, while Russian coal relatively maintained its position within the smaller market.

India’s total electricity generation rose 11.6% year on year to 180 billion kWh in August. An extended heatwave and below-average rainfall increased cooling demand while limiting hydropower generation, which fell 16.7% to 21.5 billion kWh. Coal-fired generation increased 11.3% to 116.28 billion kWh. Although this growth rate slowed from nearly 13% in July and around 14% in June, coal-fired output itself continued to increase substantially. Renewable generation from solar, wind and small hydropower projects jumped 42.1% to 35.14 billion kWh. However, peak demand during non-solar hours remained high, requiring coal-fired power to continue providing dispatchable generation and filling supply gaps. Meanwhile, patchy monsoon rainfall disrupted coal mining and supplies, leaving 46 power plants with critically low coal inventories.