Page 14 - AsiaElec Week 39 2021
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China struggles with coal deficit,
Mongolia ups 2022 export target
CHINA MONGOLIA’S finance minister, Javkhlan Bold, plans to reach sales of 16mn tonnes for 2021.
announced on September 29 that the coal export Around 11.4mn tonnes were exported in 9M21,
forecast for the 2022 budget will be increased to according to the National Statistics Office.
36mn tonnes. It appears China’s current diffi- Provincial governments and power gen-
culties with a severe shortage of coal, which has erators in northern provinces and on the east
prompted power cuts and industrial plant shut- coast of China are among coal buyers presently
downs, have persuaded Ulaanbaatar officials that attempting to purchase additional coal supplies
the higher target will be eminently reachable. from Mongolia, Russia and Indonesia.
The country was aiming to export 28mn However, coking coal exports from Mongolia
tonnes this year, but that is no longer feasible to China remained sluggish, while a shortage in
given various difficulties such as coronavirus cri- thermal coal was indirectly affecting coking coal
sis impacts on transit. Bold said Mongolia now blending supply, Huatai Futures said.
India to persist with coal auctions
INDIA THE Indian Coal Ministry is to re-auction 11 auctioned off.
coal mines after it received little interest in its As many as four coal mines that had fetched
previous bid round in August. a single bid in the first round were put up for
The lack of interests comes as India is coming re-auction in the second attempt, of which only
under pressure to end its policy preference for the Kuraloi North block could be auctioned in
coal mining expansion and new investment in June this year, with Vedanta being the successful
coal mines and coal-fired power plants. bidder.
The blocks being re-auctioned include six Adani Group units have won three out the
assets that are fully explored and five partially eight mines which went under the hammer in
explored ones, the ministry said. the latest tranche of commercial coal mining
The coal ministry will now hold a pre-bid auctions in August, placing the highest bids for
meeting for these 11 mines on October 11, and the Khargaon and the Jhigador mines in Chhat-
companies will have to submit bids by Novem- tisgarh the Gondkhari block in Maharashtra.
ber 29. The final auctions will be held between The highest bidders for the other blocks were
December 23 and January 5, 2022. The larg- Kolkata-based Shreesatya Mines for the Rauta
est blocks to be bid out in the second attempt Closed mine and the Burakhap Small Patch
include the Burapahar mine in Odisha, Tokisud block in Jharkhand, Prakash Industries for the
Block II in Jharkhand and the Dahegaon/Mak- Bhaskarpara mine in Chhattisgarh, South West
ardhokra-IV block in Maharashtra. Pinnacle Exploration for the Jogeshwar and
The government had offered a total of 67 Khas Jogeshwar block in Jharkhand and Sun-
blocks under the second round of auction for flag Iron and Steel for the Bhivkund coal mine
commercial mining, out of which only eight in Maharashtra.
mines could be put up for final bidding. These coal assets, with no end-use restric-
The government had also conducted simi- tions, are being auctioned off through the new
lar second-attempt auctions after the maiden market-determined revenue share model that
auction round under the commercial coal min- replaced the fixed fee/tonne regime that had
ing policy, held in November last year when as earlier turned off private investors.
many as 19 mines out of the 38 offered could be
P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 29•September•2022
