Thermal coal stocks across 21 Indian ports dropped by 6% w-o-w on 23 January, 2024, according to data from BigMint. During week 3 of 2024, thermal coal stocks at Indian ports stood at 14.62 million tonnes (mnt), compared to 15.57 mnt in week 2, reflecting a decrease of 6% w-o-w.
Thermal coal stocks at 21 Indian ports decreased by 6% w-o-w. This decline is attributed to weather-related challenges, including rains and floods in Indonesia. The robust growth in domestic production limited the surge in demand for seaborne coal, coupled with the cyclone and heavy rains situation in Australia.
CIL’s production rose by 8.2% y-o-y to 71.9 mnt in December 2023 as against 66.4 mnt in December 2022. Notably, the company’s total production in financial year 2024 (FY’24) (April- December) recorded at 531.9 mnt, rise of 11% as against 479 mnt in FY’23 (April-December).
Rashmi group witnessed a drop of nearly 23% in stocks at Dhamra port during week 3 of January 2024, reaching 0.19 mnt. JSPL experienced a rise of nearly 23% in coal stocks, reaching 0.176 mnt at Paradip port.
At Mundra, Tata stocks dropped by 55%, reaching 0.18. At Mangalore, JSW steel stocks surged by nearly 29% to 0.235 mnt during the reviewed week.
Krishnapatnam Port recorded a drop of 21% w-o-w, with coal stocks reaching 0.91 mnt, compared to 1.14 mnt last week. Coal stocks at Dhamra Port rose by 3% totalling 1.49 mnt. Thermal coal stocks at key ports like Mundra (1.16 mnt) experienced a 20% drop w-o-w. At Hazira (Adani) (0.87 mnt), stocks decreased by 3% during the reviewed week.
Adani Enterprise reported total stocks of 4.31 mnt, surged by 23% w-o-w. Adani Power reported total stocks at 1.27 mnt surged by more than threefold. Tata International (down by 7%) and Agrawal Coal (up by 23%) had stocks of 0.65 mnt and 0.71 mnt, respectively.
Outlook
Coal stocks may decrease in the coming week as the South African thermal coal market is poised for a downturn in the near term. This downturn is primarily attributed to sluggish demand from sponge producers. Additionally, there is limited demand from Indian power plants for Indonesian coals, and the Queensland port in Australia might face a level 4 cyclone in the coming days.