National Miner Coal India Limited (CIL) has seen a 52.5% increase in its e-auction coal sales in the first two months of the current financial year.
In a public statement, CIL said it had set aside 21.5 million tonnes under five auction windows.
As demand for coal increased, CIL recorded an increase of 16% over the price announced in April-May 2021, up from 7% in the same period last year.
CIL said the balance sheet under all electricity auction windows for the first six months of the last financial year was kept equal to the declared price.
Of the total allocated coal, the non-electricity sector accounts for 50% of the allotted amount. These include the steel, iron, and cement sectors.
As economic activity grows again, so does the demand for coal from key manufacturing sectors.
Electricity sector consumer electricity bid bookings rose by 49% over the previous year to 6.1 million tonnes.
The increased demand for coal is linked to the summer demand of the power sector, which is preparing for the peak electricity demand season. Last year, maximum demand touched 180 gigawatts during the summer months.
In May 2021, peak electricity demand increased by 2% per year. Its size in the spot power market has increased by 9%.
“Despite the revival in supply to the power sector, our concern is that there is still a small vacuum in demand. We hope this will continue soon,” the CIL statement said.
The bidding under the ‘Spot Auction’ window, in which all coal consumers, including coal traders, can participate, saw a 35% growth to 4.6 million tonnes, which ended on May 21.
“If demand restores stability, we aim to transcend last year’s identity by increasing the reported price without reducing supply commitment to the power sector and non-electricity sector,” CIL said in a statement.
