Coal news and updates

SAIL defers order for domestic coke

January 6: The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has so far not placed order despite finalising a manufacturer through reverse auction to procure domestic coal, an industry source said.

"Bhatia Coke had emerged as L1 bidder in the reverse auction conducted by SAIL for its VISL Plant at Bhadrawati in November 2013, but the order is yet to be placed," the source said.

"After the L1 price was arrived at in the reverse auction, SAIL wanted the coke maker to cut prices by another Rs 1,500 per ton, which the latter refused to comply with and as such the order has not yet been placed," the source added.

According to information available with ICMW, Bhatia had quoted a price of around Rs 19,900 per ton in the auction to supply a total of 20,000 tons of met coke to VISL.

The current ex-plant (basic) price of met coke with ash content of 12.5%, sulphur of 0.055%, phosphorus of 0.030 to 0.055%, CSR of 62-64% and CRI of 24.-27%, is around Rs 18,000-Rs 18,500 per ton.