Coal India Ltd (CIL), the largest coal miner in the country, has posted 4% m-o-m increase in production to 53.8 million tonnes (mn t) in Nov’21 compared to 49.8 mn t in Oct’21. Notably, all its subsidiaries, except Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL), reported rise in monthly production.
The company has maintained higher production levels in Nov’21 to keep pace with rising demand. However, there remains scope for improvement as the company faces an uphill task in catering to the restocking demand of the power plants whose coal inventories have come down to below normative levels.
Notably, CIl’s coal dispatches of 56.78 mn t in Nov’21 again outpaced its production for the month.
The company tends to raise its production levels towards the second half of every fiscal, thereby replenishing stock level at the pit-head mines. But, due to elevated demand from the power sector, it is still relying on inventories.
In the first eight months of FY’22 (Apr-Nov’21), CIL’s coal production reached 353.4 mn t, but remained 16% lesser than its dispatches of 421.1 mn t in this period.
Consequently, coal stock at the pit-head mines fell to a new-low of 32.19 mn t at the end of Nov’21.
MCL’s special feat
Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) has again become the first subsidiary to cross the 100 mn t-mark in coal production and dispatches in this fiscal. Furthermore, this milestone was achieved in a record time.
Subsidiary-wise Performance during Apr-Nov’21
Source: CIL | Quantity in Million Tonne
Such a similar response is expected from CIL’s other subsidiaries, as the mining operations have begun normalising post-monsoon.
Nevertheless, CIL is likely to register lower sales through the e-auction route with higher supplies being diverted to the power sector which is reeling under the pressure of lower stocks.
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