Coal Imports taken by Indian power utilities have fallen below the 5 MnT mark for the first time in past 10 months during Jul’19.
Data provided by power ministry indicates that import volumes had decreased 13% on the month to 4.9903 MnT in Jul’19 compared with 5.7051 MnT in Jun’19. Apparently, coal intake had come down on the month in line with the reduced consumption at the power stations, which had fell 6% M-o-M to 53.211 MnT in Jul’19 compared with 56.344 MnT in Jun’19.
However, power plants’ coal imports continued their strong start to the fiscal, as it grew 12% Y-o-Y from 4.44 MnT recorded in Jul’18. Over the span of first 4 months of FY20 (Apr-Jul’19), total imports taken by power plants have reached 23.439 MnT, up 33.8% Y-o-Y from 17.523 MnT in the same period of FY19.
A break-up of imports based on its utilization by the power plant shows that coal volumes taken-up for blending, was down 11% M-o-M to 1.6781 MnT during Jul’19 against 1.8829 MnT in Jun’19.
On the other hand, imports received by plants which are designed to run on imported coal had fell 13% on the month to 3.3122 MnT in Jul’19.
| Sector | Plants based on Domestic Coal | Plant Based on Imported Coal | Total Coal Receipt | ||||
| Jul’19 | Jun’19 | Jul’19 | Jun’19 | Jul’19 | Jun’19 | %Change | |
| Central | 0.3363 | 0.3243 | 0 | 0 | 0.3363 | 0.3243 | 4% |
| State | 0.4052 | 0.5973 | 0.1201 | 0.1201 | 0.5253 | 0.7174 | -27% |
| Private | 0.9366 | 0.9613 | 3.1921 | 3.7021 | 4.1287 | 4.6634 | -11% |
| Total | 1.6781 | 1.8829 | 3.3122 | 3.8222 | 4.9903 | 5.7051 | -13% |
Source: Power Ministry
Quantity in MnT
Out of the total volume, there was an appreciable growth noted in central power plants’ coal sourcing during Jul’19, which had increased 4% on the month to 0.3363 MnT as against 0.3243 MnT in Jun’19.
Import received by NTPC’s stand-alone power plants continued its steady rise on the month, marked at 0.232 MnT in Jul’19. It is pertaining to note that NTPC’s coal imports have drastically risen compared to the past year, having imported a mere quantity of 0.04 MnT in the year-ago month.
In addition, NTPL (a JV plant of NTPC and NLC) had also received its first imported coal shipment for the fiscal, during the month.
Among the major coal importers, Adani power’s Mundra plant came on top with receipt of 1.378 MnT coal in Jul’19, followed by Tata power (0.685 MnT), TANGEDCO (0.343 MnT), Semb Corp (0.29 MnT) and JSW Energy (0.255 MnT).
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