According to Mjunction Services Ltd, India’s imports of coal from South Africa fell in the first 11 months of 2011, while China almost doubled purchases.

India Coal Market Watch, a unit of Mjunction said that India bought 14.39 million tonnes of the fuel from South Africa, down 24% from 18.96 million in the same period a year earlier. Purchases in November fell 21% from the previous year to 1.29 million tonnes.

South Africa’s shipments to China, the world’s biggest coal consumer, rose 88 percent to 12.26 million tons in the first 11 months of 2011, India Coal said in the note. November sales increased more than threefold to 2.84 million.

India’s imports accounted for 25% of the 57.4 million tonnes from South Africa through November last year. According to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Mjunction and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal website. China accounted for 21% of the shipments.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)