Jindal Steel to stop buying Australian coking coal

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd will stop buying coking coal from Australia three months from now, according to a senior company official.

Coal prices fall

Jindal’s own mines in Australia will start shipping coal, and the move could further soften coal prices. Recent coking coal price settlements by major miners showed a fall in the price of all coal types for Q1 2014, highlighting a weak demand outlook from steelmakers in Asia.

"We get 50 000 tpm from our mine in Mozambique and another 50 000 t we buy from Australia," explained V.R. Sharma, deputy managing director of Jindal Steel.

"But after three months we will not be buying because we have our own mines there," Sharma told Reuters.

Gujarat NRE Coking Coal

Jindal Steel gained access to 650 million t of coking coal resources in October after buying a majority stake in Gujarat NRE Coking Coal.

Gujarat NRE Coking's two mines, located in New South Wales, are currently producing 1.5 million tpa and are expected to have an output of 5 million t by 2016.

Coal consumption to double

Reuters reported that Sharma said Jindal's coking coal consumption will more than double to 2.6 million t by 2016 as it expands capacity. Approximately 80% of the coal will come from its mines abroad, including Australia.

Edited from various sources by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/19032014/jindal_to_stop_importing_australian_coal_633/