Coal news and updates

XCoal brings US steam coal for direct sale in India

December 4: Xcoal Energy & Resources, a leading miner and supplier of US steam coal, recently brought in one vessel of high sulphur and high calorific value US origin steam coal for direct sale to consumers in India, industry sources said.

The company is planning to bring in two more parcels of US steam coal and is believed to be looking for buyers, they said.

The remaining two vessels have already sailed, but it is not yet clear as to which port they are likely to berth in, sources said, adding that the destination will be determined by the choice of buyers.

Sources said Xcoal’s first vessel arrived at Kandla Port a few weeks back and a part of the material still remains unsold.

The company is finding it difficult to convince Indian consumers to procure US origin steam coal which, till now, is only being used by a few cement-makers, brick kilns and only a few power generators because of high sulphur content, sources said.

According to information available with ICMW, very few power plants in India are designed to use high sulphur steam coal and they find it difficult to manage any coal with high sulphur content.

Most of the power plants in India use coal with sulphur content of less than 1%, whereas US coal typically has a sulphur content of 3.5%, sources said.

Till recently, Xcoal used to supply US steam coal to cement companies only but it is now eyeing consumers from other sectors as well.

Meanwhile, the traditional non-cement buyers of US steam, particularly the brick kiln makers in Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh, appear to have derived limited benefits from Xcoal’s decision to bring in material on its own as other sources have cut their prices to counter Xcoal’s offers.

Other sources have started selling their material at a price of Rs 6,900 per ton, including loading, whereas Xcoal’s price is around Rs 7,000 per ton, but in US dollars.