FACTBOX-India coal ports, vessels and monsoon effect

(Adds link map of India coal ports, paragraph 7)

Nov 2 (Reuters) - India is one of the world's
fastest-growing coal importers and this year accounted for more
than a third of South Africa's exports.

India's booming demand for coal to use in power generation
and cement and sponge iron production cannot be met by domestic
supply.

Its total thermal coal imports are projected to more than
double 2007's 35 million tonnes within the next five years.

The shortfall in 2009 between domestic coal supply and
demand is around 70 million tonnes, according to Indian
government figures.

For the past three years, India has imported as much coal as
is possible, limited more by lack of port capacity than
international prices.

India's demand for imported coal is so strong that this year
for the first time many ports which used to shut during the
monsoon months of June-August allowed discharge to continue at a
reduced rate.

Most of India's coal importing ports are in Gujarat, serving
the cement and sponge iron makers there.

For a map showing the status of coal ports in India, click
here: here

There are increasing imports into India's deep south into
the ports of Tamilnadu. Major traders Coal & Oil are building a
merchant power plant in Tuticorin to supply the projected demand
of the region.

Tamilnadu is the base for numerous car manufacturers. There
are also cement makers, paper plants and sponge iron producers.

Most ports can handle only handymax 45-50,000 tonne vessels
rather than the global industry standard panamaxes of around
75,000 tonnes or capes of 150,000 tonnes.

The only cape ports in India are Mundra, owned by India's
largest coal traders, the Adani Group, and Gangavaram in Andhra
Pradesh.

But there are numerous projects under way to build new ports
and expand existing ports, to allow much larger ships to be
discharged and increase the annual tonnage of coal imported.

There are also plans under discussion to increase the
stockpile space on the ground at the larger ports and to build
stockpile space further inland in tourist areas such as Goa,
from which coal can be railed or trucked to end-users.

The Indian end-user market for coal is complicated and
multi-layered. At the top end, multi-million tonne
annually-contracted volumes of coal, much of it Indonesian, is
brought in by traders and producers to supply power plants.

Cement and sponge iron makers tend to favour South African
coal on quality grounds. The larger cement and sponge iron
producers will take in large volumes in term and spot contracts
and the smaller will buy tiny, frequent tonnages from stockpiles
held by traders at the ports.

This so-called stock-and-sale business has been an important
part of India's coal imports for several years.

A list of India's main coal ports is below:

PORT LOCATION IMPORTS VESSEL MONSOON

BEDI Gujarat NW coal, fertillizer handymax open

panamax

CHENNAI Tamilnadu coal, iron ore, handymax open

containers

COCHIN Kerala, S coal, fertillizer handymax open

DAHEJ Gujarat coal handymax open

panamax

ENNORE Tamilnadu coal handymax open

panamax

GANGAVARAM Andhra coal handymax open

Pradesh panamax

cape

MAGDALLA Gujarat coal, clinker, panamax shut

iron ore

SIKKA Gujarat coal handymax open

panamax

KAKINADA Andhra coal handymax open

Pradesh

KANDLA Kutch coal, LNG panamax open

handymax

KARAIKAL Tamilnadu coal handymax open

KRISHNAPATNAM Andhra coal handymax open

Pradesh

MUMBAI Maharashtra coal panamax open

partly open for handymax

MULDWARKA Gujarat coal handymax shut

MUNDRA Gujarat coal cape open

NAVLAKHI Gujarat coal panamax open r

PARADIP Orissa coal, iron ore, handymax open

containers

PIPAVAV Gujarat coal, fertillizer handymax open

PORBANDAR Gujarat coal, LPG, gas, panamax shut

fertillizer

OKHA Gujarat coal handymax open

TUTICORIN Tuticorin coal, cement, panamax open

fertillizer,

sugar

VERAVAL Gujarat coal, iron ore, panamax open

pig iron, pulp

VISHAKAPATNAM coal, iron ore, panamax open

oil, met coal

(Reporting by Jackie Cowhig)