Association of producers and suppliers of metallurgical coal on Monday expressed concerns over the "influx of met coke at prices below the domestic cost of production" and sought the government's intervention to resolve the issue. The prevailing import rate for metallurgical coke in India is USD 395 per tonne, while the production cost for domestic met coke manufacturers is around USD 460 per tonne. This significant pricing gap has led to an influx of over 3.6 million tonnes of inexpensive met coke imports during 2022-23, posing a substantial challenge to India's merchant met coke sector, The Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers' Association (IMCOM) said. "To maintain a sustainable ecosystem in the met coke industry, we suggest that the Indian government impose quantitative restrictions on overseas met coke imports. Consequently, this scenario has triggered a severe unemployment crisis within the Indian met coke industry, preventing operations from reaching full capacity, and intensifying economic woes, it said.
Source: Daily Nation January 15, 2024 16:21 UTC