Coal news and updates

Indian power units’ Aug coal imports drop 25% y-o-y

Total imports of coal by Indian power utilities in August 2016 stood at 5.12 million tons (mt), a sharp fall of 25.47% year-on-year against 6.87 mt seen in the same month of the previous fiscal (2015-16), as per provisional information available with ICMW from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

 On a month-on-month basis, total steam coal imports by the utilities in August 2016 stood down by 7.41% against 5.53 mt in July 2016.

 For the first 5 months (April-August) of the current fiscal of 2016-17, total coal imports by the Indian power utilities stood at 28.87 mt, down 17.04% compared to 34.80 mt recorded for the same period in the previous fiscal (2015-16).

 Total import-based plants’ coal imports stood at 3.20 mt in August 2016, down 12.08% year-on-year over 3.64 mt imported in August 2015.

 Month-on-month, import-based plants’ volumes were down 13.51% in August 2016 compared to 3.70 mt in July 2016.

 The domestic plants, on the other hand, imported 1.91 mt in the month under review (August 2016), which was a decrease of 31.46% compared to 3.23 mt seen in August 2015, as per data.

 On a month-on-month basis, domestic power plants’ coal imports were down 4.37% against 1.83 mt seen in July 2016.

 For the first 5 months (April-August) of the current fiscal of 2016-17, total coal imports by the Indian power utilities stood at 28.87 mt, down 17.04% compared to 34.80 mt recorded for the same period in the previous fiscal (2015-16).

 Coal imports in 2015-16 declined by 11.6% to 80.72 mt compared to 91.29 mt seen in 2014-15, triggered by a 24% dip in imports by the home-grown coal-based plants.

 Of the total imports of 80.72 mt during last fiscal, 37.21 mt were by plants that used blend of imported and domestic coal, down 24% compared to 48.97 mt imported by these plants in 2014-15.

 However, imports by coast-based plants increased by 0.42% to 43.50 mt in 2015-16 as compared to 42.32 mt imported in the previous financial year.

 In fact, earlier, in view of the increased availability of domestic coal, the CEA had reduced the coal import target for all utilities to 84 mt for 2015-16 from the earlier set target of 115 mt. It may be recalled that the coal import target for the utilities in 2014-15 had stood at 96 mt and actual imports had been 91.29 mt.

 The plants have been given a total target of importing 48 mt in 2016-17. The total materialisation for the first 5 months (April-August, 2016), at 29.73 mt is 61.94% of the target.

Following chart provides the monthly break-up of coal imports by utilities in 2016-17 and 2015-16 (in mt):