In May, India, a major purchaser of Russian thermal coal, boosted its imports to the highest level in two years, according to Kommersant, business daily.

In May 2025, Russian thermal coal deliveries to India increased by 52 percent over April to a two-year high of 1.3 million metric tons, according to Kommersant, which cited a commercial evaluation by the Russian Centre for Price Indices (CCI).

Russian exports have not topped one million tons per month since June 2023, according to records.

However, growing domestic production and the high cost of shipping make a major gain in Russia's market share in India unlikely.

However, expressing the view of specialists, it stated that it is completely possible to maintain present shipment levels.

According to the report, which cited statistics from BigMint, India's total thermal coal imports in May rose seasonally by 10% month over month to 17.4 million tons, the highest amount since June 2024.

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Approximately 7.5 percent of India's total coal purchases came from Russia. Indonesia continued to be the nation's leading supplier, increasing shipments to 9.8 million tons, a 16 percent increase from the previous month.

While Indian coal imports from the US increased by 43 percent to 2 million metric tons, they stayed at the April level of 3.4 million tons from South Africa.

 

The director of the RF Centre for Price Indices (CCI), Evgeny Grachev, thinks that Russian coal exporters probably raised volumes within the parameters of their current contracts.

Favorable market conditions led India to switch from importing lower-calorific-value Indonesian coal to higher-grade Russian coal, which is available at competitive costs, according to Nariman Taiketayev, Director of the Corporate Ratings Group at National Credit Ratings (NCR).

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He said that flexible pricing is typically more acceptable to Russian suppliers. He also emphasized that a mix of weather-related and pricing dynamics will determine India's future coal demand.

The optimism of Russian coal exporters, who were already impacted by uncertainty during the 12-day Israel-Iran war, might be dampened by a rising rouble and volatility in Iran.