SAIL plans to buy more coking coal from Russia

New Delhi Public sector giant Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL_ is keen to buy more coking coal from Russia as prices are cheaper than Australia, company chairman Amarendu Prakash said on Monday. Coking coal is a crucial input in the steel making process and the bulk of the imports are currently sourced from Australia while some shipments also come from the US.

India imports around 70 million tonnes of coking coal every year as domestic coking coal is of poor quality. However, high prices of imported col are eroding profit margins of steel companies because of which cheaper Russian coal appears to be a good option.