India: Thermal coal port stocks remain stable in week 46, 2024

• Adani Enterprise’s stocks rise 5.59% w-o-w
• Inventories at Haldia jump 42.68% w-o-w

Thermal or non-coking coal stocks at Indian ports remained relatively stable, edging down by just 1.17% to 11.85 million tonnes (mnt) in week 46 from 11.99 mnt in week 45, as per BigMint’s data.

Company-wise breakdown

• Adani Enterprise: Inventories rose 5.59% to 3.59 mnt in week 46 from 3.40 mnt in week 45.
• Agarwal Coal: Stocks dipped slightly by 2.95% to 0.96 mnt in week 46 from 0.98 mnt in the previous week.

Port-wise breakdown

• Haldia: Stocks recorded the highest percentage rise, up 42.68% to 0.22 mnt in week 46 from 0.16 mnt in week 45.
• Mundra: A sharp 23.86% decline was noted, with inventories at 0.60 mnt in week 46 compared to 0.79 mnt in the previous week.
• Paradip: Inventories were up 6.03% to 1.42 mnt in week 46 from 1.34 mnt in week 45.
• Tuticorin: Stocks edged up by 3.17% to 1.36 mnt in week 46 compared to 1.32 mnt in the preceding week.
• Hazira (Adani): Inventories increased by 5.14% to 1.04 mnt in week 46 from 0.99 mnt in the previous week.

Market overview

Portside prices for South African thermal coal saw a slight increase, with RB2 (5500 NAR) at INR 9,550/t and RB3 at INR 7,700/t ex-Gangavaram, according to BigMint’s latest assessment. Despite the uptick, trading remained limited due to subdued buying, with sufficient stockpiles and a sharp decline in sponge iron prices. Major sponge iron players reduced imports in favour of domestic coal.