Coal India stocks were down 2.37 per cent at the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday as the public sector miner reported a 0.8 per cent lower production and a 4.8 per cent lower offtake in February which makes it difficult to reach the 838-million-tonnes (mt) production target for 2024-25.
On Monday, Coal India chairman P.M. Prasad said that the lower availability of railway rakes had impacted offtake, but the situation is expected to improve in March.
“We are expecting production this year to reach 787-788 mt and if the availability of rakes improves we could see despatches of around 765 mt,” Prasad said on the sidelines of a conference organised by mjunction on Monday. He said that following the completion of Kumbh Mela, the availability of rakes has improved over the past few days.
“In CCL and ECL, we are getting sufficient rakes. But the mega mines are not there. In MCL and SECL, we are facing a shortage. Interministerial coordination is happening. We have been assured of the availability of rakes,” Prasad said, adding that there is also a record stock of 51 million tonnes of coal at the thermal power plants, resulting in lower offtake from Coal India’s mines.
Auction price
Auction prices of coal sold by Coal India have remained flat sequentially during the January-March quarter so far, despite an improvement in buyer participation.
“Coal auction prices remained muted and flat in the first two months (Jan-Feb 2025) of the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter which ended in December 2024. Several factors are at play, including demand,” mjunction MD & CEO Vinaya Varma said.