India: BigMint’s coking coal index rallies to a new high, climbs $15/t w-o-w

• Coking coal prices trading at a two year high globally
• Indian steel prices firm up on cost push

BigMint’s premium hard coking coal (PHCC) index was assessed at $280/tonne (t) CNF Paradip, India, on 27 Aug 2026, up by $15/t w-o-w. The index has rallied significantly in the past two weeks and hit a high since index was launched in end-Aug’24, as per data maintained with BigMint.

India’s coking coal imports increased m-o-m to 6.6 mnt in July as per provisional data maintained with BigMint, however volumes may see a dip in Aug, as mills haven’t been active in procuring coking coal at elevated levels due to sufficient inventories.

Finished steel prices in India have also witnessed an increase due to higher raw material cost. Trade-level blast furnace (BF) rebar prices increased by INR 1,100/t w-o-w to INR 55,000/t ($576/t) ex-Mumbai on 27 August 2026, according to BigMints assessment. The increase was driven by improved buying activity, primarily from the retail segment, while demand from project customers also remained supportive.

BigMint has consolidated its PHCC CFR India Index to include material of all origins, including US, Canada, Mozambique, Australia — normalised for quality and freight. With India steadily reducing its reliance on Australian PHCC and increasing imports from alternative sources, this update ensures the index accurately reflects evolving market dynamics and trade flows.

Factors influencing prices

Tight Chinese supplies in domestic market- The 523 Chinese coking coal miners tracked through Mysteel’s nationwide survey saw their washed coal stocks drop to a more than four-year low during the week to20 August, as active coal trading continued during the survey period amid improved market sentiment, according to the latest survey results. Against the backdrop of frequent mine safety inspections and constrained domestic coal production, tight coal availability had prompted coal buyers to step up their purchases of the raw material this month, resulting in steady declines in miners’ inventories, as reported.

Drop in Russia coal output- Russia’s output of coal for all uses stood at 32.7 million tonnes in July, marking the lowest monthly level so far this year, according to the latest data from the Russian Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat). Over January-July, Russia’s cumulative production of coal for all uses totalled 249 million tonnes, down 1.8% from the same period of last year. Among the total, hard coal (including anthracite, coking coal and other hard coal) accounted for 192 million tonnes, down 2.3% from the previous year

Outlook

I think the impact is mainly limited to fuel shortages in China, Russia, Mongolia and, to some extent, other smaller supplying countries. We have already covered the market outlook until the end of December, hence not active in booking coking coal presently. At the current price levels, demand appears to be largely concentrated in China which remain the key buying markets, cited a source from Indian steel mill.