Australian storm may fuel steel price hike in India

17 Apr 2017

With the price of coking coal doubling in the past 10 days, steel in India is set to become dearer.

Coking coal is now priced at $300 a tonne — and expected to rise further — after Cyclone Debbie wreaked havoc at major mines and ports in Australia late last month, disrupting exports from that country.

As per the latest estimate, shipments of 13 million tonnes of coking coal from Queensland, accounting for 50 per cent of the global coking coal supply, is expected to be delayed. Over 32 large vessels are waiting in queue to load coal from the ports, which are limping back to normality.

Nearly all major steel makers in India import most of their coking coal from Australia, which is the biggest exporter of the key raw material. Companies are arranging for coking coal from other countries because managing the cost and time will be a major issue.

Source – thehindubusinessline