India’s coal shortage likely to continue until the end of September

Shortages of coal for India’s non-power sector are likely to continue until the end of the September, according to Coal India Ltd (CIL). A surge in power demand at the start of summer has led to the coal giant diverting supplies from cement, aluminium and other sectors. This resulted in a rise in fuel costs for cement producers as they needed to import coal to continue operating their plants.

Moreover, the ministries of railways and coal had diverted most of the available rail wagons to power plants, creating further issues for cement suppliers such as Birla Corp and Ambuja Cement. Both producers saw a rise in freight costs as they were forced to switch to road transport due to the lack of available rail wagons.