State run miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) has reported coal production of 47.33 million tonnes (mnt) in July, 2022 which is 11% more than the output recorded in the year-ago period.
Production fell below the 50-mnt mark for the first time since November, 2021 as mining operations were affected by the monsoon.
However, despite the operational hurdles, the company maintained double-digit growth in production for the fourth consecutive month to keep pace with the escalated demand from the power sector.
The impact of monsoon was more pronounced across Western Coalfields (WCL) and South Eastern Coalfields (SECL), whereas the remaining coal producing units registered y-o-y growth in coal production during July, 2022.
CIL coal production company-wise
Quantity in mnt
Uptick in supplies replenish power plants’ inventory
CIL’s coal dispatches increased 8% y-o-y to 54.45 mnt in July, 2022 but were down 8% on the month from 58.98 mnt in June, 2022.
Notwithstanding the monsoon, CIL helped the power plants to build coal stock to the tune of 0.104 mnt/day during July. As a result, total inventory at the plants rose to 29.60 mnt as on 30 July, 2022.
This marks a significant recovery from the lows of 21.94 mnt seen at the end of April.
During April-July, 2022, CIL dispatched 231.97 mnt of coal against the production of 207.09 mnt. This resulted in liquidation of around 25 mnt of inventory assessed at CIL’s pit-head mines since the beginning of FY23.
Still, CIL’s mines are comfortably placed with excess inventory of 35.95 mnt at the end of July. Along with this, the company has placed imported coal supply via tenders on tap to handle any surge in power demand going forward.
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