The Coal Reform Center 30 aims for zero, importing more coal for purposes other than energy | News

“We are talking about auctioning existing scrubbers with coking coal connections and long-term coking coal connections for new scrubbers. This auction should provide the steel sector with access to domestic coking coal, reducing its dependence on imported coking coal,” said Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and CEO, JSW Steel.

“We have demanded fast-track auctions for laundries with adequate coal connections and long-term coking coal connections for future laundries,” Acharya said.

More suppliers, new FSAs

To enable BCCL to focus on increasing production and building laundry facilities, the ministry plans to transfer existing fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with steelmakers to CIL’s other subsidiaries, Eastern Coalfields (ECL) and Central Coalfields (CCL), according to another official.

The official explained that ECL and CCL have surplus coal of higher quality than other CIL companies. After washing, this carbon will be of an even better class, G7 or G8. Initially, 10-12 million tonnes (mt) of FSA will be transferred and there are plans to expand it depending on the success of the program, a senior coal ministry official said.

This high-quality coal from ECL can be used by steelmakers for pulverized coal injection (PCI), the second official noted. PCI serves as an additional source of carbon and heat in blast furnaces to produce molten iron, which is then processed into steel.

The Indian steel industry is experiencing a major expansion, increasing demand for coking coal – a key raw material for blast furnace steel production. Currently, imported coking coal meets 90 percent of the demand. industry needs.

Sehul Bhatt, Research Director, CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics, said, “In 2023-24, India imported 58 million tonnes of coking coal, up 3.7% year-on-year. However, the value of these imports declined by 17.22 percent to $15.96 billion due to falling prices and diversification of Indian steel mills to ensure lower prices.

India’s leading integrated steel producers are expected to commission an additional 15% of blast furnace capacity in 2024-25.

“This will increase import dependence as India lacks sufficient resources of steel-quality coking coal,” Bhatt noted, adding that the overall import bill, however, is unlikely to increase much. “First, global coking coal prices are expected to remain low over the next few years, with commodity price volatility decreasing and supply improving. Secondly, the expected increase in scrubber capacity in India and the development of new domestic coking coal mines will increase the share of the domestic coking coal mix in the total blast furnace feed. However, import volumes are still expected to increase,” he added.

Maintaining the coking coal linkage auction system focusing on the steel sector is a proactive initiative by the Ministry of Coal to help the domestic steel industry reduce its dependence on imports, said Alok Sahay, secretary general, Indian Steel Association (ISA). ISA is the most important body for steel producers.

However, Sahay stressed: “Due to technical and quality constraints, we will continue to be largely dependent on imports. Even if 15-20 percent import of coking coal will be replaced with domestic coal, which will bring valuable foreign exchange savings. Furthermore, the aim is to discourage trade in this scarce national resource and ensure that the benefits directly reach end-users.

The finer issues raised by the stakeholders are being discussed with the Coal Ministry, BCCL and CIL, Sahay said.