Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh recently said that producing quality steel could help India compete with China, even though the latter’s total production is around 8-9 times that of India’s.
India, on its part, aims to produce 300 million tons (mt) of crude steel by 2030-2031. This means the crude output will have to be hiked 130 percent from the current capacity of around 135 mt. And since India’s present per capita steel consumption is at a mere 68 kg compared to the world’s average of 208 kg, industry experts implicitly believe that there is ample room for growth in steel consumption in India which is now the third-largest steel producer in the world after China and Japan.
While all that sound positive, there is a lurking sense of danger. As the country looks to increase crude steel production capacity and per capital steel consumption, this also indicates greater demand for coking coal, a key but scarce raw material, indeed! India does not exactly have large swathes of coking coal reserves and hence is dependent mainly on imports, a scenario that is not likely to change going into the future. “Not only is coal expensive, supply is also falling short and we need to work out some alternatives,” Chaudhary Birendra Singh sounded a note of caution at a recently-concluded Indian Steel Association (ISA) conclave held in New Delhi.
According to S&P Analytics, India’s coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, demand is estimated to hit 70 mt by 2020. This would mark a 25 percent increase, or an increment of 5 mt per annum, in demand from the 2017 levels. Monthly metallurgical coal demand is, therefore, forecasted to trend higher towards 6 mt at the end of 2020.
India’s crude steel production was at 102.33 mt with a capacity of 138 mt in financial year 2017-18.
However, Coal India Limited’s (CIL’s) met coal production in 2016-17 was at 54.65 mt and markedly down by 39 percent at 33.28 mt in 2017-18. Over April-August, 2018, coking coal production from CIL was at 12.38 mt against 12.04 mt in the same five months in the previous fiscal, up a meagre 3 percent.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Steel's Net Zero mission
The country’s commitment to achieving Net Zero within a targeted timeframe will now propel its steel sector towards a sustainable future in line with global trends.
Fuel Price Hike, Supply Chain Disruption Hurt Festive Sales
Supply chain disruptions and fuel price hikes have hurt festive sales in a big way as most auto majors posted decline in sales in October.
Seaborne coking coal offers remain range-bound
Seaborne coking coal offers moved in a narrow range in October amid global supply tightness and healthy spot demand.
Global crude steel output down 8% in September
China manufactured 74 mt in September, fall of 21% y-o-y while India’s production went up by 7% to 10 mt.
MOIL embarks on expansion projects
“Even though our country is blessed with manganese ore reserves, we import 50% of the domestic requirement. We have to lower our import dependence and save precious foreign exchange.” Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, Steel Minister
Iron ore handled by major ports down 17% in H1
The 12 major Indian ports handled 27 mt of iron-ore during H1 of 2021, down by 17% from 33 mt recorded for the corresponding period of previous year.
Shrinking China output to boost India exports
“In the third quarter of 2021, the company actively responded to the pressure from external policies, such as production curtailment and dual control system on energy consumption and intensity, as well as coal resource shortage and surging prices.” Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd
Indian Railways' iron-ore handling up 25% in H1
Indian Railways in April-September of 2021 (H1) transported 84 mt of iron ore, up by 25% over 67 mt during April-September 2020.
September crude steel production up 7.2% y-o-y
India’s crude steel production in September 2021 grew 7.2 percent to 9.547 million tons (mt) over September 2020 but was down by 3.2 percent from August 2021 output, provisional steel ministry data showed.
“Five enablers: way forward to sustainable cleaner steel”
Right and scalable technology, appropriate policy guidance by government, access to finance to fund transition, willingness of customers to pay for cleaner products and infrastructure for use of new technologies are the need of the hour for the sustainable and cleaner steel industry, according to Madhulika Sharma, Chief Corporate Sustainability, Tata Steel.
