India's coal imports via major ports across the country dropped 4% month on month in December, to around 12.2 million mt, data released late Tuesday by Indian ship broker Interocean showed.

In November, imports totaled 12.7 million mt.

Of the total imports in December, 2.6 million mt was coking coal, up 53% from 1.7 million mt in the previous month, while steam coal comprised 9.6 million mt, down 13% from 11 million mt in November, the data showed.

Mundra port on India's west coast received the largest quantity of coal shipments in December, at 2 million mt, down 17% from 2.4 million mt in November.

In terms of coking coal, Goa port on the west coast received the highest quantity in December, at 480,493 mt, down 41% from 810,706 mt in November.

The ports surveyed by Interocean were: Kandla, Navlakhi, Mundra, Bhavnagar, Pipavav, Bedi, Magdalla, Dahej, Dharamtar, Haji Bunder, Jaigarh, Goa, Mangalore, Tuticorin, Ennore, Karaikal, Krishnapatnam, Kakinada, Gangavaram, Vizag, Paradip and Haldia.

The coal was mainly imported from Indonesia, South Africa, and Australia. Adani Enterprises, Bhatia Coal, JSW Group, Coastal Energy and Steel Authority of India Limited were the main importers.