Domestic Coal Rakes Supplied by Railways Drop 34% M-o-M in Apr’20

Coal demand in the country has dipped drastically with the reduced electricity requirement during lock-down period, thus curtailing the coal movement by railways.

Data compiled by CoalMint research indicates that rakes supplied to the consumers had decreased 34% on the month to 7,570 in Apr’20 as against 11,389 in Mar’20. Incidentally, it was the lowest monthly total recorded since Jan’19, the period from which CoalMint has started collecting railways data.

Subdued Power Demand:

Lack of commercial as well as industrial demand had significantly brought down coal dispatches in the full-month of lock-down, wherein power consumption declined 14% M-o-M to 85,608 MU in Apr’20 compared with 99,382 MU in Mar’20.

As a matter of fact, the daily electricity requirement has failed to breach the 3,000 MU mark ever since the restrictions were imposed. In the tough conditions, power plants have shown little keenness to procure coal, having already stocked enough coal at their premises.

Sector-wise Allocation:

In order to ensure uninterrupted coal supplies, the government had granted adequate measures for easing the financial hardship of consumers. However, no improvement was seen in coal intake from power and non-power sector during Apr’20.

Power Sector: Majority of the rakes were delivered to the state sector power plants followed by central run power stations in Apr’20, nevertheless, both had witnessed a noticeable fall in coal receipt during the month.

Private sector plants were seen more reluctant to purchase coal, having been preferred last for the sale of electricity. The plants had received 1,120 coal rakes at an average rate of 37.33 rakes/day during Apr’20.

Non-Power Sector: Rakes supply was affected by the lack of industrial activities arising from the restrictions, which had fallen 30% M-o-M to 2,049 in Apr’20.

Source: CoalMint Research
Quantity expressed in number of rakes.