India: Portside thermal coal stocks rise further w-o-w on fresh inflows

• Paradip, Mundra, Magdalla lead inventory build-up
• New arrivals lead to stock build up at ports

Portside thermal coal inventories across India increased 3.3% w-o-w to 13.53 million tonnes (mnt) in week 14, compared with 13.10 mnt in week 13, indicating continued stock build-up supported by fresh cargo arrivals across select east and west coast ports.

East coast: Mixed trend with gains at Paradip, Krishnapatnam

On the east coast, Paradip increased 8.9% to 1.52 mnt, maintaining its position among the highest stocked ports, while Krishnapatnam surged 53.4% to 0.26 mnt and Gangavaram rose 36.4% to 0.21 mnt, indicating fresh inflows.

However, Dhamra declined sharply by 13.8% to 0.88 mnt, while Vizag fell 9.8% to 0.67 mnt and Tuticorin slipped 11.7% to 0.59 mnt, reflecting continued evacuation.

Kakinada remained stable at 0.33 mnt, while Haldia was flat at 0.16 mnt and Gopalpur edged down 3.9% to 0.07 mnt.

West coast: Broad-based build-up offsets selective decline

On the west coast, stocks at Mundra rose 5.5% to 1.60 mnt, while Magdalla recorded a sharp 19.5% increase to 0.94 mnt, indicating strong replenishment.

Mangalore increased 10.3% to 0.88 mnt, Kandla rose 10.1% to 0.85 mnt, and Dahej edged up 4.0% to 0.81 mnt.

Hazira remained the highest-stocked port, with inventories increasing marginally by 1.3% to 2.03 mnt.

Meanwhile, Navlakhi declined sharply by 16.4% to 0.57 mnt, while Pipavav fell 25% to 0.03 mnt.

Other gains were seen at Karaikal (+17.1% to 0.41 mnt), Bhavnagar (+21% to 0.23 mnt), and Jamnagar (+17% to 0.20 mnt).

Buyer-wise stock position

Adani Enterprises’ inventories increased 1.8% w-o-w to 3.41 mnt, indicating steady stock replenishment, while Agarwal Coal’s inventories declined 2.3% to 1 mnt.

Market insight

The weekly inventory increase was primarily driven by fresh cargo arrivals and stock replenishment at key ports such as Paradip, Mundra, Magdalla, and Kandla.

Despite selective drawdowns at Dhamra, Vizag, and Navlakhi, the continued rise in inventories suggests that cargo arrivals remain healthy, while consumption and evacuation continue in parallel, keeping the market balanced.