Coal Prices Could Rise on Increased Indian Imports

Reuters reported that Indian steel producers are set to begin importing more coal — such producers are waiting for state approval to mine coal on their own, but the investigation into India’s coal block allocation process has slowed progress in that arena. The rise in imports could help support prices for the fuel across the globe.

As quoted in the market news:

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd could more than double its coal imports to about 5 million tonnes a year to feed a plant that will start up next month, an executive told Reuters, as the state of Odisha has further delayed the company’s decade-long wait for approval to operate its own coal mine.

Jindal, India’s No. 3 steel producer by market value, Tata Steel Ltd, its biggest producer, and Monnet Ispat Energy Ltd were among the firms to be allocated coal blocks in different states by the federal government over the past two decades.

Years on, state governments have yet to give them the necessary approvals to start mining coal. States have further dragged their feet after India’s federal police, the Central Board of Investigation (CBI), said last month it was investigating the allocation of a coal block to aluminium maker Hindalco Industries Ltd.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.