Adani raises coal output at Australia’s Carmichael mine

Indian conglomerate Adani raised thermal coal output at its Carmichael mine in Australia during April-June compared with a year earlier.

The company produced 3.2mn t of coal during the quarter, up by over 21pc compared with last year's corresponding quarter. It sold 2.8mn t of coal in the quarter, up by 16pc from a year earlier.

Carmichael produced 11.2mn t of coal during India's fiscal year from April 2023-March 2024, compared with 7.7mn t in 2022-23, the first full year of operations. Sales grew to 11.2mn t last year, up from 7.3mn t a year earlier.

Adani aims to ramp output from this mine to 14mn-15mn t in 2024-25. It shipped the first cargo from Carmichael in January 2022, after missing its initial target of shipping first coal in 2021.

Carmichael is around 500km inland from the Abbot Point coal port, which is also owned by Adani. Carmichael coal has an average calorific value of around NAR 4,950 kcal/kg, lower than the standard 5,500-6,000 kcal/kg produced in Australia's Hunter valley and Bowen basin. Argus assessed Australian NAR 5,500 kcal/kg coal at $87.80/t fob Newcastle on 2 August.

Adani's IRM division, the largest Indian thermal coal importer and trading firm, handled less coal during April-June compared with a year earlier. Volumes for the quarter were 15.4mn t, down by 13pc from a year earlier. It was also lower by almost 38pc from 24.7mn t during January-March.

The firm's coal-trading business primarily caters to the requirements of Indian private-sector, central and state government-owned utilities. It participates as a bidder in tenders issued by these utilities from time to time.

India's thermal coal imports rose in June from a year earlier, in line with an increase in coal-fired generation to cater for the rise in power demand during the peak summer period.

The south Asian country imported 14.09mn t of thermal coal in June, up by 4.2pc from a year earlier, according to data from shipbroker Interocean. But imports fell from 16.70mn t in May. Imports during January-June were up at 89.64mn t, from 81.13mn t in the same period a year earlier.

By Ajay Modi