India’s total coal rake movement in October 2022 stood at 13,902 units against 13,764 in September, a marginal increase of 1% m-o-m as per CoalMint data. Notably, each rake carries approximately 3,900 tonnes of coal, which means 54.2 mnt of coal was dispatched by Indian Railways.
Meanwhile, a diverging trend was seen in domestic and imported coal rake movements.
Domestic coal rake movement increased to 11,213 in October as compared to 10,883 in September, rising 3% m-o-m. However, imported rake movement fell by 7% m-o-m to 2689 in the said period — this was the second consecutive monthly drop.
It is to be noted that total coal rake movement remained stable on a y-o-y basis during October.
Slowdown in power demand limiting coal traffic
Total coal rake movement rose to 105,417 units in the first seven months of FY2022-23 (April-October, 2022) from 90,949 in April-October, 2021, a rise of 16% y-o-y. Prioritisation of coal rake movement by Indian Railways during summer amid the surge in power demand has been the major reason for the robust growth.
However, a need for higher rake movement was curtailed in October by the subdued power demand. Notably, the plant load factor (PLF) of coal-fired plants fell to 55.64% in October — the lowest in this fiscal.
Domestic coal rake movement saw a marginal increase despite coal dispatches in the country growing by 9.5 % m-o-m to 67 mnt. This anomaly followed an ease in the coal supply situation at the power plants.
For similar reason, there was a drop in imported coal which lowered the rake requirement for its transportation.
Zone-wise rake movement
- The top three zones for handling coal traffic were East Coast, East Central Railway and South East Central Railway. East Central Railway has seen a growth of 9% m-o-m while the remaining two have grown marginally.
- South Central had the highest drop of 150 rakes or 11% m-o-m in total coal rake traffic.
- East Central Railway has the highest domestic coal rake movement.
- Among the key railway zones, South Central has the highest drop of 11% m-o-m in domestic rake movement.
- All the key railway zones handling imported coal traffic have seen a decline in October
Outlook
In the near term, imported coal rake movement could go down amid lower demand for the imported material. Meanwhile, domestic coal rake movement will depend on the power demand in the country.
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