India incline towards continued import of Russian Coking Coal

India is inclining towards continuing to import coking coal from Russia, said the steel minister on Sunday, seeming to buck a global trend to boycott Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

“We are moving in the direction of importing coking coal from Russia,” Ramchandra Prasad Singh told a conference in New Delhi.

India plans to double the imports of Russian coking coal which is a key ingredient in making steel, the minister said. He said the country had imported 4.5 million tonnes but did not mention the period he was referring to.

Russia which is typically India’s sixth-largest supplier of coking and thermal coal, could start offering more competitive prices to Chinese and Indian buyers as European and other customers spurn Russia because of sanctions, traders say.