A coal crisis in India has forced producers of sponge iron — a steelmaking feedstock — to scour the planet for supplies to keep their mills running, adding to inflationary pressures as they turn to pricier imports.
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., which is running its sponge iron plants at 40% capacity as it doesn’t have enough of the fossil fuel, has contracted orders for 1,50,000 tons of thermal coal each for the months of May and June from South Africa and Mozambique, according to Managing Director V.R. Sharma. That’s the most it has ever imported in a month, he said.
