India’s plan to reach 300 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of crude steel capacity by 2030 comes at a time when the country still relies on imports for about 90 per cent of its metallurgical (met) coal.
Despite efforts to become more self-reliant in coal, most new steel capacity is being built through the coal-intensive blast furnace (BF) route, which depends heavily on imported met coal.
As a result, 182 mtpa of BF capacity currently planned or under construction would require an extra 140 mtpa of met coal, significantly increasing India’s exposure to global coal prices and supply risks, as highlighted by a recent IEEFA report.