Indian Economy
India: Largest Importer of Coking Coal by 2025
- 31 Aug 2019
- 2 min read
According to a report published by Fitch Solutions Macro Research, India will overtake China as the largest importer of coking coal by 2025.
- It estimated that India's coking coal consumption to grow at an annual average rate of 5.4% between 2019 and 2028, driven by an expansion in steel production.
- In global terms, China influences prices of coking coal, as it accounts for roughly two-thirds of global coking coal production and consumption.
- However, steel production in China may get reduced in the medium term due to the slowing of the Chinese economy and construction sectors.
Coking Coal
- Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is used to create coke, one of the key inputs for the production of steel.
- Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace (converting iron oxide (hematite) into iron metal).
- Process of Coking
- Coke is a solid fuel made by heating coal in the absence of air so that the volatile components are driven off.
- The process of heating coal in this manner is referred to as carbonization or coke making.
- The chemical composition alone cannot be used to predict whether a coal is suitable for coking.
- Coking coals generally have volatile matter contents of 20% to 32% – i.e., the low- and medium-volatile bituminous ranks.
- There are many varieties of coal in the world, ranging from lignite to anthracite.
