India’s imports of coking coal have increased by over 9% in FY’24 to 57.28 million tonnes (mnt) compared with FY’22. Imports have edged up by around 6% y-o-y in FY’24 from 54.05 mnt in FY’23, as per BigMint data. Likewise, imports of pulverised coal injection (PCI) coals used by BF-based steel producers have increased nearly 18% in FY’24 since FY’22. The surge in overall imports of metallurgical coal is obviously linked to India’s fast-paced growth in crude steel production, which reflected a rise of 13% y-o-y in FY’24 to touch 143 mnt. The met coal-guzzling BF-BOF route witnessed an increase of around 5% in crude steel production to 61 mnt in FY’24, with hot metal production assessed at 87 mnt.
