Contents 16 Thermal coal offers ease marginally in February 18 Coking coal offers rise in February 19 India’s Dec coal imports up 15% y-o-y 20 Coal India production up 1.25% in January y-o-y 20 SCCL’s production jumps 8.9% in Jan 21 India’s Q3 cement production up 11% y-o-y 22 India’s Jan power capacity addition at 850 MW 24 Direct sourcing of coal by Indian steel cos impacting traders 25 Sponge iron production down in December 26 FM presents rural focused Union Budget for FY19 31 US coal production estimated to decline 2% in 2018 32 2018 holds bright prospects for global thermal coal sector 33 India’s share in global coal demand to reach 25% by 2040: BP Report 38 Mining industry to be optimistic in 2018 42 CIL estimates coal demand to reach 1 bn tons by 2020 47 NLC’s lignite production down 8.7% till Dec 50 Corporate update 52 Traffic handled by major ports up 4.6% in Apr-Jan FY18 54 Indian Railways’ January coal handling up 8% y-o-y 56 E-auction data 57 Port data
4 Coal Insights, February 2018
6 | COVER STORY
“NCL to soon enter the coveted 100 mt club” In a year of low-growth, NCL expects to cross its production target, says P K Sinha, CMD, NCL.
28 | GOVERNMENT
CIL shuts down 67 mines in 3 years Depletion of reserves and unsafe mining conditions are the major reasons for the closures.
34 | EXPERT SPEAK
With rich reserves of prime coking coal should India go for imports? Coking coal demand growth and rising prices call for measures to augment domestic supply.
39 | INTERVIEW
US Commercial Service matching equipment makers with Indian cos US mining equipment makers are keen to sell in India and offset the downturn in the US.
48 | IN FOCUS
‘Low spend on IT slowing India’s mining sector growth’ Carlson Software offers its unique software and hardware product lines for Indian miners.
Cover Story
“NCL to soon enter the coveted 100 mt club�
T
wo years to go for the 2020 deadline, Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) remains the only miner within the fold of Coal India Ltd to stick to its production target. In fact, the Singrauli-headquartered subsidiary is expected to cross its target in the current fiscal. Moreover, the company is expected to make a gala entry into the coveted club of 100 million tons plus coal producers soon, Prabhat Kumar Sinha, CMD, NCL tells Arindam Bandyopadhyay in an exclusive interview.
6 Coal Insights, February 2018
Cover Story You have just taken over as the CMD of CIL’s best performing subsidiary. Which are your immediate focus areas? Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) is the flagship subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) having immense potential. To meet the energy requirements of the nation, the company will keep setting newer records in coal production and soon enter into the coveted club of mining companies producing 100 million tons (mt) of coal per annum. Our primary focus is on smart mining through enhancing efficiency while considering best practices in environmental conservation and safety. Along with this, we are also focusing on sustainable development and inclusive growth of the stakeholders. We intend to take the company’s brand image to newer heights. In a year of low growth, NCL has been the only subsidiary reporting a double digit growth so far this year. Where did NCL score over other miners within the CIL fold? Proper planning and execution to meet the targets helped us a lot in marching forward towards our goals. We always keep our focus on the 1 billon tons of coal production plan of CIL by 2020 and we match our growth requirement accordingly. Innovative inputs from the workforce like Barrier coal mining at Amlohri and Bina coal areas, increased capacity utilisation of Draglines, deployment of the biggest heavy earth moving machines
(HEMMs) used in opencast coal mining and dedication of the NCL team paved the way for achieving double-digit growth. Where do you expect to finish the current year in terms of production and despatch? What is your target for the next year and your likely achievement in 2020? In view of the stupendous performance so far this year, we expect to achieve the revised targets of 93 million tons (mt) of coal production and same volume of off-take given to us by CIL. In fact, our team is striving to cross that target. Achievements in coal off-take is expected to be more rejoicing. Our coal production and off-take targets for the next fiscal year (2018-19) depend upon the communication from CIL. However, we will put in efforts to get into the 100 mt club within next few years, subject to the environmental clearances. Which, according to you, are NCL’s areas of strength and which are its weak links that need to be addressed? NCL has highly mechanised opencast power grade coal mines being operated only in a closed territory of 25 kilometers. The company has a fleet of more than 1,000 Heavy Earth Moving Machines (HEMMs) working 24x7, which helps in producing large quantity of coal from the blocks lying in close vicinity. Most of the coal produced are despatched to pit-head thermal power
NCL‘s coal dispatch performance in 2017-18 (Till 15th February, 2018) Annual Target (MT)
Actual Dispatch (MT)
Percentage Growth Y-O-Y
Amlohri
12.00
11.05
16.93
Bina
7.50
6.77
-0.77
Project
stations via dedicated Merry-Go-Round (MGR) and Belt Pipe Conveyor (BPC). Rapid Loading through Silo for MGR transportation is also a special feature, which makes coal loading in MGR wagons very fast. All the coal produced at NCL is done by departmental means. However, the company has some challenges too, including coal evacuation. Infrastructural constraints with respect to rakes movement are being taken up with the Railways. Another challenge is that the remaining coal reserves are located in the dip side of the existing coal mines. This results in higher stripping ratio of coal extraction, which has consequently, increased the operational cost. Also, there is a requirement of additional land area for expansion projects. NCL has the advantage of having large coal blocks. Could you give us a break-up of the production and despatch from the blocks that you are currently operating? As of mid-February 2018, our total production stood at 80.29 mt, about 12 percent growth on an annual basis. Despatches were up more than 16 percent to 83.87 mt. The highest production and despatches came from Nigahi, Jayant, Dudhichua and Amlohri projects, each of which achieved more than 10 mt of production and despatches till February 15, 2018. Another significant achievement is that
NCL‘s coal production performance in 2017-18 (Till 15th February, 2018) Annual Target (MT)
Actual Production (MT)
Percentage Growth Y-O-Y
Amlohri
12.00
10.53
9.62
Bina
7.50
6.56
3.94
Project
Dudhichua
15.50
12.96
31.01
Dudhichua
15.50
13.05
10.62
Jayant
15.50
15.46
7.24
Jayant
15.50
13.44
2.86
Jhingurda
2.50
2.26
18.87
Jhingurda
2.50
2.28
22.66
Kakri
2.00
1.68
-11.19
Kakri
2.00
1.76
16.67
Khadia
9.00
7.09
27.52
Khadia
9.00
7.33
42.91
Nigahi
16.75
15.17
14.55
Nigahi
16.75
14.63
11.00
Krishnashila
6.85
5.75
15.13
Krishnashila
6.85
5.92
22.90
Block – B
5.40
5.66
40.62
Block – B
5.40
4.80
9.94
NCL Total
93
83.87
16.14
NCL Total
93
80.29
12.09
Coal Insights, February 2018
7
GOVERNMENT
CIL shuts down 67 mines in last 3 years Ritwik Sinha
A
round 67 mines of Coal India Limited (CIL) have been closed in the last three years till October 1, 2017, due to various reasons starting from exhaustion of coal reserves to unsafe mining condition, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Coal, Power, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, has said. The reasons for closure, suspension and abandonment of these mines include depletion and exhaustion of coal reserves, unsafe mining conditions arising out of fire, other safety considerations, inundation, adverse geo-mining conditions etc., the minister said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. “Most of the underground (UG) mines are incurring heavy losses. Closing of these unsafe and unviable mines have reduced the losses previously being incurred by them. All manpower of these closed mines have been suitably redeployed in other mines or other
28 Coal Insights, February 2018
suitable areas of the subsidiary companies,” the minister said. Further, when asked if the Centre has proposed to revive these mines, Goyal said, “Some of the closed UG mines have already been converted to OC mines wherever viable. Other mines which are having sufficient extractable reserves are reconsidered if and when they become economically viable in future by introduction of new technology or change of method of work.” Govt allocates 11 coal mines to CIL
Meanwhile, the Union government has allotted 11 new coal blocks to three subsidiaries of CIL, adding an annual production capacity of 225 million tons per annum (mtpa), Goyal said. Of these, 3 coal blocks, namely Amarkonda Murdangal, Brahmini and Chichro Patsimal in Jharkhand have been allotted to Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL). Another 4 mines, namely Rampia and
Dip Side of Rampia, Ghogharpalli and Dip Extension of Ghogharpalli in Odisha have been allotted to Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), while 4 other blocks, namely Dhulia North and Pirpainti-Barahat in Jharkhand and Mandar Parvat and Mirzagaon in Bihar have been allotted to Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL). CIL had requested the government for allotment of additional coal mines so as to make its 3 subsidiaries, viz, ECL, BCCL and WCL, 100-mt-plus coal-producing subsidiaries as these subsidiaries do not have adequate coal reserves at present, the minister added. FIRs lodged on illegal mining, theft
Separately, the minister said that the number of first incident reports (FIRs) lodged during 2017-18 stood at 251 cases till November 2017, which included 51 cases of illegal mining and 150 cases of theft and pilferages. “As per information received from CIL,
Expert Speak
With prime coking coal reserves of 5 bn tons, should India go for imports? J P Panda
I
ndia has to import nearly 200 million tons (mt) of coking coal by 2025 for the purpose of steel manufacturing to sustain a GDP growth of 9-10 percent. The cost of coking coal in the international market is likely to rise sharply and may reach a level of $350 in the near future.
34 Coal Insights, February 2018
The Jharia coalfields (JCF) and Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) alone have nearly 50 percent of India’s coking coal reserves. This is an opportunity which Coal India (CIL)/BCCL must avail of to make itself the largest profit-making company. This article deals in detail with how BCCL can avail of this opportunity. BCCL is the only company with huge reserves of coking coal in the Jharia coalfields but how can these be mined economically to make the company not only viable but also
the highest profit making subsidiary of Coal India? Unfortunately, BCCL’s mines are also located in the most difficult coal basin from the point of view of mining, which makes the task of its CMDs extremely difficult. To work in BCCL is to work in a warravaged country! To bring it out of the mess is no mean achievement. But the exercise to convert the fire-ravaged coalfield into an ultra-modern mega opencast coal basin project of 25-50 mt capacity and make it the coking coal hub of India needs to be put on the fast track. I will try to give the historical background of the Jharia coalfields, the present operations and the future of this most difficult subsidiary of Coal India. Coal reserves of Jharia coalfields
First, let us examine the coking coal potentialities of India and, in particular, the Jharia coalfields spread over a total area of nearly 250 sq km. Out of India’s total coking
Interview
US Commercial Service matching coal, equipment suppliers with Indian partners
T
he West Virginia US Export Assistance Centre (USEAC), US Commercial Service, is working to bring US exporters of mining equipment from West Virginia – the heart of the Appalachian coal country – and Indian customers together in forging key business tie-ups. India forms an important part of the US Commercial Service’s strategy since, lately, thanks to the cyclone in Australia and mine closures in China, enquiries for US coal have risen sharply. The US exported $200 million worth of coal to India in 2017, which was up a whopping 231% from $20 million in 2016. The US would clearly like India to import more of US coal. And as long as there is interest in India, the US Commercial Service will continue to assist those buyers to find sources in the US. Furthermore, because coal production in India is expected to increase for domestic use, US mining equipment companies are keen to sell in India and consequently offset the downturn in the US market, Leslie Wrenn Drake, Director, WV US Export Assistance Center, and Jonathan Ward, Principal Commercial Officer, US Consulate General, tell Madhumita Mookerji during a freewheeling interview. However, they add, price competition is taking business away from the US players in India, though their pricing also includes shipping. Excerpts:
What is the scope of the work of the West Virginia US Export Assistance Centres (USEAC)? How many of these centres are there? Leslie Wrenn Drake: Jon (Jonathan Ward) and his staff work at the US Commercial Service here in Kolkata. The US Export Assistance Centres are spread out over the entire United States. So, we have about 100 offices around the US operating as US Export Assistance Centres. In West Virginia (WV), there are two such offices. There is one in Charleston, which is the capital of West Virginia, and another in Wheeling, WV. Our job is to work with US companies, to help them find overseas markets for their products, increase their international sales
Coal Insights, February 2018
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58 Coal Insights, February 2018
Tear along the dotted line
Tear along the dotted line