Recent spot coal auction conducted by South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) has failed to draw considerable interest from the bidders, wherein higher allocation to the tune of 78% booking was recorded but no such response was seen in terms of bid prices.
In the auction held on 16 Oct ’20, the company had offered 1,500,800 t coal out of which 1,173,750 t was sold at a price realization of INR 1300.93/t. Average price for the sold quantity came down 9% on the month from INR 1435.61/t in Sep ’20.
| Coal Grades | Notified Price | Reserve Price | Bid Price | Sold Quantity |
| SC-II | 2796 | 3076 | 3076.00 | 400 |
| G5 | 2737 | 3011 | 3024.43 | 51,000 |
| G7 | 2311 | 2543 | 2543.27 | 52,300 |
| G8 | 1757 | 1933 | 2052.50 | 46,250 |
| G9 | 1368 | 1505 | 1505.00 | 11,000 |
| G11 | 1145 | 1260 | 1394.55 | 500,000 |
| G12 | 1063 | 1170 | 1170.63 | 8,000 |
| G13 | 980 | 1078 | 1104.67 | 101,800 |
| G14 | 897 | 987 | 987.04 | 40,000 |
| G15 | 708 | 779 | 784.96 | 223,000 |
| G16 | 604 | 665 | 666.94 | 140,000 |
| Total | 1,173,750 | |||
Quantity in Metric Tonne (t) | Prices in INR/t
Almost similar coal grades were repeated in the current round of auction; however, the effective rise in reserve price post restoration of the 10% upper cap had curtailed the high bid premiums that were recorded in the previous term.
Moreover, decline in coal prices of South African origin which is preferred in Central India, has also led to subdued coal sales in the auction.
Key findings:
(a) Of the total booked quantity, around 40% of the material was procured at the base price. In contrast, only 18% of the material was lifted at base price in the previous term.
(b) G8 grade of coal from Rehar colliery attracted highest premium in range of INR 540-570/t followed by G11 coal from Dipka which fetched gain of INR 290-340/t over the reserve price. Rest of the lot had garnered a maximum premium of INR 40/t. (Detailed source-wise results can be seen here).
In total, almost 82% of the booked quantity accounting to 963,750 t received premium below INR 50/t.
(c) No bids were recorded for G7 coal from Bijari colliery and G14 coal from Baroud colliery.
(d) Traders emerged as the most active participants in the auction and had procured coal at an average price of INR 1384.25/t which was higher than the assessed price realization in the auction.
Not much urgency was seen in case of power sector, as they procured lower coal grades ranging from G11 to G16 at average price of INR 962.31/t by paying additional sum of INR 25/t over the floor price.
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