News Update

The global thermal coal market has returned to where it was before Russia's attack on Ukraine, with prices for most seaborne grades dropping back to pre-invasion levels while volumes remain steady. Seaborne thermal coal prices spiked after the Feb. 24 assault on Ukraine, reaching record highs amid concerns over the loss of exports from Russia and Ukraine as well as higher demand in Europe on fears of a shortage of natural gas for power generation.

A recent sharp fall in gas and coal prices in Europe, as a result of ample non-Russian supplies and warm weather, has caused Newcastle 6,000kcal/kg coal prices to correct to USD320/tonne from around USD450/tonne in early September. China’s benchmark Qinhuangdao 5,500kcal/kg price climbed unexpectedly from around CNY1, 300/ tonne to CNY1,600/tonne during September-October before mildly correcting to CNY1,550/tonne in an overall balanced market.

The UN climate summit in Egypt concluded on Sunday with a landmark decision to establish a fund to address loss and damage, but the outcome on other crucial issues such as India's call for phase down of all fossil fuels reflected little progress.

Coal stocks at northwestern European import terminals have increased to a five-week high, data showed on Wednesday, but this failed to quell growing supply concerns as prices jumped to near one-month highs. Combined inventories at four key terminals in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp (ARA) were assessed last at 5.89m tonnes,

With coal prices hitting record highs, companies would normally expand their operations, but projects are being left on the table as most Western banks stand by climate pledges to restrict lending to the sector, according to a dozen mining company executives and investors.

The government has monetised assets worth Rs 33,422 crore under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) in 2022-23 so far, with the Coal Ministry leading the list by raising Rs 17,000 crore, and the Ports and Shipping Ministry surpassing its overall fiscal target. In 2021-22, the government surpassed the programme's first-year target of Rs 88,000 crore by completing transactions worth Rs 1 lakh crore.

India’s transition from coal to renewable sources of energy needs a well-defined policy framework given the complexity and long duration of the transition, according to a committee set up by NITI Aayog under the India-US Strategic Partnership. The 14-member committee said in its report that such a well-defined policy framework will provide the necessary administrative and legal backing to the proposed actions.

Coal India, the world's largest miner, which is scrambling to meet an optimistic coal production target of 700 million tonnes, has said it exceeded the annual target of green coverage by mid-November. Coal India's plantation of 1,526 hectares as of November 15 has exceeded the FY'23 annual target of 1,510 hectares achieving 101 per cent target satisfaction.

The government is preparing a 'coking coal mission' to diversify the sources of key steel making raw material, for which the country is heavily dependent on imports, according to Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The mission is part of the government's efforts to reduce dependence on imports for coking coal and increase use of locally available coal in the steel making through gasification process.

The government is preparing to meet a projected peak electricity demand of 230.144 gigawatts (GW) next year (FY24), power ministry secretary Alok Kumar said. The projection of 230 GW is based on surveys carried out across states and this year’s jump in power demand owing to an extended heatwave coupled with renewed economic activity after a two-year pandemic-induced lull.