
AKIPRESS.COM - India's Steel Ministry is looking to diversify its sourcing of coking coal, with Russia and Mongolia identified as key new markets, while plans are underway to establish the country’s own mechanism for determining coking coal prices and creating an index, Businessline reports.
After discussions with industry on Monday, it has been decided that trial runs for two shipments of coking coal from Mongolia — around 3 tons — will be considered over the next three to six months, senior officials taking part in the meetings told Businessline. The Trans-Siberian – Mongolian railway will be tapped.
"Some points relate to securing coking coal by tapping new geographies. Another one discussed was determining the right price for coking coal. Tapping Mongolia for supplies and having own price mechanism are being considered for immediate implementation," a person present in the meeting said.
At the meeting, it was also decided that Mongolia would be tapped for coking coal. A team comprising officials from Ministry and industry representatives will soon visit the Central Asian nation to work out logistics and see if additional investments are required to be made there or not.
Mongolia is a land-locked nation and shares borders with China and Russia. India will be seeking alternative routes to China, including tapping the Vladivostock-Chennai route, to secure coal.
"Any route through China has to be avoided," said a source.