India’s coking coal imports are at a five-year high for the April-November period (11 months) of this fiscal at 38.14 million tonnes (mt). Imports were slightly higher on a Y-o-Y basis with nearly 38.12 mt of shipments coming in for the comparative period last year. 

Buoyant steel demand in domestic markets continues to be a key reason for increasing demand in coking coal. 

Russia is the third largest supplier replacing countries such as Canada and Mozambique. 

India, despite being the second largest producer of crude steel globally, after China, remains short on coking coal supplies, especially at a domestic level. Mills rely primarily on imports, making the country the largest importer of coking coal.