India's JSW Steel and state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) are in talks with Mongolian authorities to import two shipments of coking coal, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. JSW Steel, the country's biggest steelmaker by capacity, plans to buy 2,500 metric tons, while SAIL aims to import 75,000 metric tons of the steelmaking raw material from Mongolia, said the sources who requested anonymity as the plans are not public.
Both JSW Steel and SAIL would import Mongolian coking coal either via Russia or China, said the sources.
"We are just trying to understand how the logistics work," SAIL Chairman Amarendu Prakash told Reuters when asked if the company was looking to receive a shipment from Mongolia.
SAIL was exploring sourcing coking coal from Mongolia to diversify its suppliers, it said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
India, the world's second-largest producer of crude steel, meets 85 percent of its coking coal requirements through imports.
Late last year, erratic weather conditions hit coking coal supplies from Australia, which accounts for over half of India's coking coal imports of around 70 million metric tons a year.
Since then, Indian steel mills have been seeking to source coking coal from other countries.
Last month, a source said India was exploring ways to import regular supplies of Mongolian coking coal via Russia to reduce reliance on supplies through China.
Industry officials say landlocked but resource-rich Mongolia can offer superior grades of coking coal at relatively lower prices to India, which is witnessing strong steel demand driven by rapid economic growth and increasing infrastructure spending.
Mongolian coal is about $50 a metric ton cheaper than the Australian supplies, they said.
India's Jindal Steel and Power is also keen tosource coking coal from Mongolia, one of the sources said.
India's JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power didn't respond to Reuters emails for comment.
The Indian government is working to help steel companies diversify imports to avoid over-reliance on specific countries, commodities consultancy BigMint said.
India imported 29.4 million metric tons of coking coalduring the first half of the fiscal year, up nearly 2 percent from a year earlier, the consultancy added.
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