Indian power units’ Jan coal imports drop 8% m-o-m
24 Feb 2016
Indian power utilities’ coal imports in January 2016 stood at 6.82 million tons (mt), down 8.33% month-on-month compared to 7.44 mt imported in December 2015, according to provisional data from CEA available with ICMW.
However, on a year-on-year basis, the imports in January this year were down 17.43% from 8.26 mt (revised) imported in the same month in 2015, according to the data.
The power utilities’ total coal imports during the first 10 months (April-January) of 2015-16 declined by 11.24% to 68.57 mt from 77.24 mt seen during the same period in 2014-15.
The import trend over the last few months show lower year-on-year volumes on account of higher availability of domestic coal and lower-than-expected growth in demand for electricity from distribution companies (discoms) due to their poor financial condition. For instance, imports in December 2015 were down 17.33% from 9 mt (revised) imported in the same month in 2014.
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 previous 115 mt. It may be recalled that the coal import target for the utilities in 2014-15 had stood at 96 mt.
Following chart provides the monthly break-up of coal imports by utilities in 2015-16 and 2014-15 (in mt):
2015-16 |
2014-15 |
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Months |
Imported Coal Based plants# |
Domestic coal based plants# |
During the month # |
Since April 15* |
Imported Coal Based plants# |
Domestic coal based plants# |
During the month # |
Since April 14* |
April |
3.91 |
4.35 |
8.23* |
8.225 |
3.329 |
3.851 |
7.18 |
7.18 |
May |
3.62 |
3.43 |
7.05 |
15.274 |
3.876 |
3.94 |
7.816 |
14.996 |
June |
3.82 |
2.38 |
6.2 |
21.477 |
4.507 |
3.109 |
7.616 |
22.612 |
July |
3.04 |
2.67 |
5.71 |
27.442 |
2.86 |
4.727 |
7.587 |
30.199 |
August |
3.64 |
3.23 |
6.87 |
34.8 |
3.06 |
3.508 |
6.568 |
36.767 |
September |
3.43 |
2.99 |
6.42 |
41.23 |
2.937 |
4.064 |
7.001 |
43.768 |
October |
3.68 |
3.15 |
6.83 |
48.06 |
4.224 |
3.855 |
8.079 |
51.847 |
November |
3.35 |
2.89 |
6.24 |
54.3 |
3.516 |
4.897 |
8.413 |
60.26 |
December |
4.00 |
3.44 |
7.44 |
61.73 |
4.028 |
4.471 |
8.499 |
68.759 |
January |
3.88 |
2.94 |
6.82 |
68.57 |
4.552 |
3.81 |
8.262 |
77.522 |
February |
3.145 |
2.999 |
6.144 |
83.666 |
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March |
3.626 |
3.677 |
7.303 |
91.154 |
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Total (Apr-Jan) |
36.37 |
31.47 |
67.81 |
381.108 |
32.34 |
36.42 |
68.75 |
413.91 |
Total (Apr-Mar) |
36.37 |
31.47 |
67.81 |
381.108 |
43.66 |
46.91 |
91.154 |
588.73 |
* Figures for previous months April 2015 has been revised. |
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# Provisional. Figures for Apr-Nov 2014-15 may not tally due to revision in figures of past months of the year |