Russia and India in talks to restart coking coal supplies

Russian and Indian officials met last week in an effort to resolve an impasse over the shipping of coking coal to Indian steelmakers, which has dried up since March over payment methods, a trade source and an Indian government source said.

Russia usually supplies about 30 per cent of European Union, Japanese and South Korean coking coal needs, while India had planned to double its Russian imports to around 9 million tonnes this year.

Imports make up around 85 per cent of India’s overall coking coal needs, which total 50-55 million tonnes a year, and New Delhi last year signed a deal to import from Russia.