India: Portside thermal coal stocks inch down marginally w-o-w

• Thermal stocks at different ports show volatile trends
• Adani Enterprise’s port stocks decline around 5% w-o-w

Portside thermal coal inventories in India remained stable during week 29 of 2025 at 15.60 million tonnes (mnt), down marginally by 1.5% from 15.84 mnt in the previous week. Minor variations in port-wise inflows and offtake kept the overall volumes steady.

Port-wise stocks

At Vizag, thermal coal stocks rose to 1.48 mnt from 1.39 mnt the previous week – an increase of 0.09 mnt or 6.3%, indicating improved arrivals amid steady offtake.

Paradip remained largely steady w-o-w, with inventories recorded at 1.84 mnt, down just 0.01 mnt from 1.85 mnt in the previous week — a negligible 0.3% dip, showing balanced inflows and consumption.

In Mangalore, stocks edged down to 0.73 mnt from 0.75 mnt last week – marking a mild fall of 3% amid deals getting concluded.

Haldia witnessed a notable decline, with coal volumes dropping to 0.16 mnt from 0.22 mnt – a fall of 0.06 mnt or 25.1%, likely due to lower arrivals and active dispatches.

Gangavaram posted a strong gain, with stocks climbing to 0.63 mnt this week from 0.56 mnt previously – up by 0.07 mnt or 12.2%, reflecting healthy vessel discharge and moderate buyer participation.

Company-wise trends

Among major traders, Adani Enterprise’s portside stocks declined 4.5% to 3.07 mnt, while Agarwal Coal’s holdings remained mostly flat, inching down 0.5% to 1.14 mnt.

Market overview

Portside prices for South African coal inched up amid disruptions in rail movement and RBCT maintenance, with RB2 at INR 7,850/t and RB3 at INR 6,800/t exw-Gangavaram. Portside stocks remained stable at 15.84 mnt as arrivals matched offtake. Sponge iron prices in Rourkela rose by INR 100/t w-o-w to INR 24,700/t as earlier bookings weighed on buying.

Indonesian thermal coal prices stayed flat at  ports as monsoon delays and muted demand kept activity subdued. 5000 GAR was assessed at INR 7,150/t (Kandla) and INR 7,050/t (Vizag), while 4200 GAR stood at INR 5,700/t and INR 5,600/t, respectively.