India coal stocks drop sharply as demand outpaces supply

• 6 months ago (2023-10-19)
• David Flin

Asia 848 Coal 274

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Coal inventories at Indian power plants in the first half of October fell at their fastest rate in two years, with electricity demand boosting imports as fuel use outpaced supply.

Inventories held by power plants fell by 12.6 per cent to 20.58 million metric tons in the sharpest fortnightly decline since September 2021. Stocks fell to their lowest level since November 2021. Unusually dry weather and an increase in economic activity has boosted consumption in October.

Stockpiles fell as coal-fired power generation increased 33 per cent year-on-year, much faster than the 21.6 per cent in September. Utilities faced a 20.4 per cent increase in power demand and a 26.8 per cent decrease in hydropower output. There was also a seasonal decline in wind and solar, whose share in total output fell from 12.1 per cent in September to 10.1 per cent in the first half of October.

There was also a dramatic increase in natural gas-fired power generation in the first half of October, rising to 1993 GWh, up from 700 GWh for the same period in 2022.