(EnergyAsia, December 3, Thursday) --- HMS Bergbau AG, a German coal trading, production and logistics group, said it has opened an office in Mumbai, India with its local partner Growell Resources & Management Pvt Ltd as part of its international expansion programme. Growell, established in 1992 by Ashok Ghandi, trades commodities, chemicals and fertilisers.

HMS Bergbau said the cooperation with Growell will help facilitate coal imports into India and better serve customers on the ground.

While Growell will tap into its extensive network of customers of various sizes in India, HMS Bergbau will contribute by sourcing coal sourcing from Indonesia and South Africa and providing international logistics.

Heinz Schernikau, CEO of HMS Bergbau AG, said:
“Global steam coal trade has quadrupled in the past 30 years and is currently seeing annual growth rates of between five and nine percent. India is developing into one of the largest coal importers worldwide. Despite high domestic production, India is a net coal importer because of its own energy consumption and in the past few years has had to increase coal import volumes considerably. We believe that this trend in the world's second most populous country will continue in the coming years. This is mainly due to India's mounting demand for electricity.”

Berlin-based HMS Bergbau AG is an independent coal trading house specialising in just-in-time deliveries of thermal coal to power plants and other industrial consumers. The company is one of the leading coal trading companies in Germany and markets its products to renowned consumers worldwide.

Listed on Germany's Frankfurt Stock Exchange since December 2008, HMS Bergbau is actively expanding its activities to span coal production and logistics solutions primarily in Asia and Eastern Europe. The company is also developing environmental technologies, in particular concerning underground CO2 capture and storage technology.