Coal Stockpiles Hit 34-Month Low as Electricity Demand Surges
What Happened
Coal inventories at India’s thermal power plants fell 42% year-on-year to 29 million tonnes in August, leaving plants with only nine days of fuel cover, the lowest level in 34 months. Rising electricity demand, a hot summer, below-normal monsoon rains and transport bottlenecks have driven coal consumption higher, while supply replenishment has lagged. As many as 51 of 190 thermal power plants were operating with critically low coal stocks in August.
Key Takeaways
This is not being seen as a coal availability crisis yet, but rather a logistics challenge. However, with coal still supplying the bulk of India’s electricity, low inventories leave power plants more vulnerable to disruptions and increase pressure on coal transport networks as demand remains strong.