Sanjay Kumar Singh, Secretary, Steel Ministry on Thursday said the Centre is working on ways to increase coking coal supplies and domestic production.
Coking coal is a key input for steel-making. Nearly 80 per cent of India steel-mills’ coking coal requirements are met through imports. In FY22, imports were to the tune of 57 million tonnes (mt) while (crude) steel production was at 120 mt.
According to Singh, the Centre is trying out “various strategies” and sourcing is being carried out across “diverse” options. However, the ultimate solution, he said, would be “when our requirement is done within the country”.
“There have been issues of price rise in coking coal, but of late, they have come down significantly. Of course, the permanentsolution is to produce coking coal to our requirementwithin the country. The Ministry of Coal is working for that,” Singh said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Indian Steel Markets Conference’ organised by e-marketplace ‘mjunction’.
Quality hit
The bureaucrat during his speech said the quality of iron ore is decreasing as mining of low-grade ore has gone up significantly over the last 3-4 years. Accordingly, users need to look at greater utilisation of scrap for steel making. “But scrap generation is low. The steel consumption in the construction sector is locked on for long period and scrap has to be generated for the remaining 40 – 45 per cent of available segments. So the consumption of steel has to go up” he said.
Scrap utilisation and reduction of carbon footprint need to be looked into.
Tapping into AI, embracing technology and taking help of available data to “understand the psyche of the consumer” is important and products must be developed accordingly. “We need to develop the expertise too. Come up with all types of steel not just for domestic production but also for the world,” Singh added.