OfBusiness Coal Dailies

24th May’23

Price

• Prices remains stable. Prices at Navlakhi port of Grade 3600 GAR is Rs 6100/MT ($74), Grade 3800 GAR is Rs 6700/MT ($83), Grade 4800 GAR is Rs 7600/MT ($93), Grade 5400 GAR is Rs 9700/MT ($118) and at Kandla port of Grade 4600 GAR is Rs 7800/MT ($96), Grade 6000 GAR is Rs 11600/MT ($141).
• Australian coal price at Krishnapatnam port is Rs 12900/MT ($157) and at Gangavaram port is Rs 12600/MT ($154).
• South African RB3 coal price at Ennore port is Rs 10600/MT ($129). All prices are exclusive of GST.

Demand and Supply

• Imports of non coking coal could be cut drastically by fiscal 2025-26 on the back of increased output of dry fuel in the country, P M Prasad, CMD of Coal India Ltd. said. He said CIL would be able to produce one billion tons by FY26. Last year CIL produced 703 million ton. The target for FY 24 is 780 MT and FY 25 is 880 MT.
• Imports of non-coking coal will be reduced if India touched 1 bn tons of production. India’s overall coal production has witnessed a quantum jump to 893.08 MT in FY 2022-23 as compared to 728.72 MT in FY 2018-2019 with a growth of about 22.6%. The priority of the Coal Ministry is to enhance domestic coal production to reduce dependence on coal imports.

News

• CIL said it is expecting to conclude the wage agreement (NCWA-XI) within a month, which would benefit its 2.38 lakh strong non-executive workers. Wages of the non-executive workers, which account for 94% of Coal India’s workforce, are revised every five years.
• The hike is due from July 2021. In 2017,CIL signed a wage agreement with worker unions proposing a 20 per cent hike in salaries for five years. This agreement will benefit its 2.38 lakh strong non-executive manpower.

OFB’s Opinion

• With CIL’s plan to increase coal production to 1 billion tons, the reliance on imported coal will decrease. As a result, the prices of imported coal have decreased significantly this month and are predicted to remain stable. To take advantage of the lower prices, industries should consider consuming both domestic and imported coal.