Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), the subsidiary of CIL operating in Maharashtra, has recorded coal sales through exclusive auction for the first time since FY ’18.
The auction envisaged specially for the non-power sector was held on 14 Aug ’20, where 3,860,000 t coal was offered. However, due to adverse market condition, only 134,200 t was booked that too at the base price.
The sole lot of coking coal from Tandsi colliery fetched highest bid price of INR 3353/t, from where 11,000 t was sold. In terms of highest allocation, 60% of G10 grade non-coking coal was lifted from Umrer Old siding where the material was offered via rail mode of dispatch.
Overall, no bids were seen for three-fourth of the total volume offered in the auction wherein coal from 13 different lots was left unsold. (Detailed source-wise results can be seen here).
Majority of the coal sales via auction route by WCL has been carried out through spot and special forward schemes, with exclusive auction being the least preferred mode of allocation. But, with muted demand arising from power sector, CIL together with WCL have shifted their attention towards non-power sector for liquidating the excess stock.
Notably, out of the eight coal producing subsidiaries, six of them have conducted exclusive auction during Aug ’20. In contrast, only two subsidiaries had carried out the auction in the previous month.
With slowdown in industrial activities, these auctions face additional pressure from the decline in global coal prices in order to fetch favorable response from customers.
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