Kolkata: Coal India Limited (CIL) sold coal at 59 percent above its notified price in the August round of its Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) e-auction, running ahead of the 46 percent recorded for the financial year so far. The company released the provisional auction data on Tuesday.
The volumes behind that price moved in the other direction. CIL offered 21.07 MT across its subsidiaries in August and allocated 8.28 MT, or 39 percent. For April to August, it offered 129.17 MT and allocated 47.74 MT, or 37 percent.
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The spread across subsidiaries was wide. Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) allocated all of the 0.47 MT it offered in August, and that coal fetched 173 percent above the notified price. It has cleared its full offer for the year to date as well, allocating all of the 2.79 MT put up between April and August at 120 percent above notified price.
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) sat at the other end. It offered 8.93 MT in August, more than any other subsidiary, and allocated 2.68 MT, or 30 percent, at 33 percent above notified price. Its cumulative position is thinner still, with 12.06 MT allocated out of 48.98 MT offered, at 32 percent above notified price.
South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) placed 1.56 MT of the 3.13 MT it offered in August, at 81 percent above notified price. Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) placed the smallest share for the year, allocating 1.22 MT out of 7.56 MT offered.
CIL's production data shows output moving against supplies. The company produced 47.5 MT in August, down from 50.4 MT a year earlier, a fall of 5.7 percent. For April to August it produced 267.5 MT against 280.2 MT in the corresponding period, a decline of 4.5 percent.
Supplies rose over the same periods. Offtake reached 60.6 MT in August against 57.4 MT a year earlier, a growth of 5.5 percent, and 322.9 MT for April to August against 302.6 MT, a growth of 6.7 percent.
Within August's supplies, the non-regulated sector grew faster than power. CIL supplied 48.46 MT to the power sector against 46.39 MT a year earlier, a growth of 4.5 percent, while non-regulated sector supplies rose to 12.12 MT from 11.06 MT, a growth of 9.6 percent.
The company said the higher supplies enabled it to liquidate around 55 MT of pithead stock during the first five months of the financial year. It said approximately 76 MT remains available at its pitheads, which it described as sufficient inventory to support power generation requirements in the coming months.
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The gap between output and supplies runs through all eight subsidiaries in the April-August period. MCL carried the widest gap, despatching 92.1 MT against production of 69.9 MT. Its output fell from 82.1 MT a year earlier, while its offtake rose from 86.4 MT. SECL despatched 76.3 MT against production of 65.5 MT, with output up from 61.9 MT and offtake up from 72.1 MT.
NCL's figures declined on both counts. Its production fell to 49.5 MT from 57.9 MT, and its offtake to 52.9 MT from 56.7 MT. In August alone its output was 8.5 MT against 11.3 MT a year earlier, and its offtake 8.8 MT against 11.5 MT.
Four subsidiaries raised production over the five months. Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) produced 18.8 MT against 16.9 MT and despatched 23.1 MT against 18.9 MT. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) produced 29.8 MT against 25.1 MT and despatched 36.0 MT against 28.5 MT. Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) produced 22.9 MT against 22.6 MT, and lifted offtake to 29.1 MT from 25.7 MT.
BCCL moved down on both measures, producing 11.2 MT against 13.6 MT and despatching 13.4 MT against 14.3 MT.
CIL said it is preparing to ramp up both production and supplies as the rainy spells recede and drier months approach.
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