CIL coal production falls on weaker demand

Coal India (CIL), India’s state-owned coal company, has reported monthly coal production of 32.43 million t in August – 21% below its original target of 40.89 million. Production in the financial year-to-date now stands at 194.81 million t.

Offtake for August stood at 36.72 million t compared to a target offtake of 44.51 million t. This brings total offtake for the financial year-to-date to 211.38 million t – 12% lower than the 240.95 million t target but 0.2% up on the same period in the previous financial year.

CIL has registered strong production growth in recent years on the back of government pressure to boost domestic coal production. Yet there are now signs that the state-owned company is producing more than required with coal stockpiles at power plants totaling 28.42 million t – or enough for 21 days of supply – according to the Central Electricity Authority.

Stockpiles at mines add a further 45 million t to the country’s stockpiles, according to local media reports. This has led to CIL being asked to produce only as much coal as the market can consume, a senior coal sector official told the Economic Times.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/02092016/cil-coal-production-falls-on-weaker-demand-2016-2359/