Domestic thermal coal supplies to Indian utilities rose in January as power plants continued to boost inventories.
Combined coal supplies to utilities from domestic sources such as state-controlled Coal India (CIL), Singareni Collieries (SCCL) and captive blocks stood at 76.41mn t, up by 5.8pc from a year earlier, provisional data from India's coal ministry show. Supply was also up from 76.04mn t in December.
Indian utilities continued to restock, although coal consumption at utilities was weaker than initially anticipated, as temperatures in most parts of the country were higher last month compared to historical averages, curbing power demand. India's coal-fired generation — which meets most of its power requirements — stood at 109.68TWh during January, down from 111.72TWh a year earlier, but up from 104.30TWh in December, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data show.
Higher domestic coal supplies and weaker coal burn supported stock positions at utilities. Combined coal inventories at Indian power plants stood at around 50.5mn t on 31 January, up from 45.2mn t on 31 December and higher from 38.59mn t as of 31 January 2024, according to CEA data. The inventory as of the end of January would last for over 17 days at the current daily coal consumption rate at utilities.
Higher stocks and a steady uptick in domestic supplies might have pressured utility demand for imported coal and India's overall seaborne receipts last month. India imported 11.63mn t of thermal coal last month, down from 13.34mn t a year earlier, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. Imports reached 163mn t in 2024, down from 168.2mn t in 2023, Kpler data show.
Indian power sector imports, which account for more than 40pc of the country's overall imports, dropped on the year for the fourth straight month in December, and might have eased in January. Combined thermal coal imports by Indian utilities, excluding captive power plants, stood at 3.25mn t in December, down by 2.17mn t or 49pc from a year earlier, CEA data show. Imports could come under pressure if the government does not extend its directive to imported coal-fired plants, which have a combined capacity of 17.7GW, to boost generation under Section 11 of the Indian electricity law, which also gives some flexibility to such generators to sell excess production in the power market. The directive is due to expire on 28 February.
Production, supply mix
The increased supplies to utilities were supported by higher overall thermal production. India's coal output rose by 4.4pc in January from a year earlier to 104.49mn t. The country's supplies to all sectors stood at 93.21mn t last month, up by 6.7pc on the year.
CIL produced 77.79mn t in January, down from around 78.41mn t a year earlier, while it supplied 69.26mn t, rising from 67.52mn t last year, ministry data show. Of this, 55.01mn t of coal was supplied to the power sector in January, easing from 55.15mn t a year earlier.
Meanwhile, output at coal producer SCCL rose by 5pc from a year earlier to 6.97mn t in January. But its overall supplies in January fell by about 1.5pc on the year to 6.12mn t, while dispatches to the power sector rose by 2.2pc on the year to 5.6mn t.
Captive coal block producers and other small government mining entities comprised the remainder of the supplies to utilities in January. Output from captive coal blocks and other mining companies rose by over 31pc on the year to 19.72mn t in January, while supplies rose by nearly 30.7pc to 17.83mn t.
Data on domestic coal supplies to Indian utilities do not include dispatches to captive power plants set up by industries. Supplies to such captive utilities — from sources such as CIL, SCCL and captive coal blocks — reached 6.29mn t in January, up by almost 9pc from a year earlier.
Domestic supplies to steel and cement sector in January rose by 4.5pc and 31pc from a year earlier to 860,000t and 900,000t respectively, the ministry data show.
