CIL’s e-auction sales up 52% in April-May; demand from power sector still unsteady

• CIL's total allocated quantity this fiscal till May, moved up to 21.5 Million Tonnes (MTs), under the five auction windows

• 'Though there is revival in supplies to power sector, our concern is that there is still a bit of vacillation in the demand. We hope it stabilises soon,' said a senior official at CIL

New Delhi: Coal India Ltd's (CIL) e-auction sales are beginning to look up as the company posted 52.5 percent growth, in auction bookings, during the first two months of the ongoing fiscal. CIL's total allocated quantity this fiscal till May, moved up to 21.5 Million Tonnes (MTs), under the five auction windows against 14.1 MTs for the comparable period last year. With the demand for coal gaining steam, CIL could garner 16 percent add-on over the notified price during April-May period compared to 7 percent of the same period last year. To encourage coal consumers to lift additional coal quantities, reserve price under all e-auction windows was kept at par with notified price during the first six months of the last fiscal. 

Non-power sector continues to show healthy appetite for coal

The upward trend in the allocation was primarily driven up by the non-power sector, which evincing a healthy appetite for the dry fuel, accounted for 50 percent of the total booked quantity of 21.5 MTs. Under the 'exclusive auction for non-power,' this sector booked 10.8 MTs during the referred period, posting 77 percent growth against 6.1 MTs booked during the comparable period of the last year.

Demand from power sector improves, but continues to be unsteady

E-auction booking by power sector consumers also logged a robust 49 percent growth at 6.1 MTs under 'Special forward auction' meant exclusively for them. Allocation during April-May period of FY21 was 4.1 MTs. "Though there is revival in supplies to power sector, our concern is that there is still a bit of vacillation in the demand. We hope it stabilises soon," said a senior official of the company. 

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Auction allocation under 'Spot auction' window where all coal consumers, including coal traders, could participate, also clocked 35 percent growth in May at 4.6 MTs. 
 
CIL scripted an all-time high of 124 MTs in e-auction sales in FY21, registering 88 percent growth over the preceding year. "Hopefully, if the demand regains stability, we aim to surpass the last year's mark with increased add on over the notified price without let-down on supply commitment to power sector and non-power sector," said the executive.

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