NEW DELHI: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) on Thursday said the company has diversified its coking coal sourcing, thus reducing dependence on Australia for the key raw material by over 50 per cent. The initiative will aid in reducing the overall cost involved in manufacturing steel, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The development assumes significance as the government was making efforts to reduce India’s dependence on a select group of countries for meeting coking coal requirements. Indian steel players were making bulk purchases of coking coal from Australia due to unavailability of coking coal in the domestic market. Alternate sources will improve its timely availability and reduce logistic costs.

This initiative has significantly reduced the company’s consumption of Australian coking coal by more than 50 per cent, the company said.

“By reducing reliance on Australian coking coal imports and increasing intake from other regions, we’ve strengthened our supply chain and improved cost efficiency,” Pankaj Malhan, Executive Director in charge of Jindal Steel Angul, said.

The coke oven plants successfully blended these coking coal, JSPL said, adding that it is looking for further diversification in the coming months.

Jindal Steel and Power owns and operates two steel mills in Odisha and Chhattisgarh having a combined capacity of 9.6 million tonnes (MT).

As per industry estimates to produce every 1 tonne of crude steel, around 1.5-2 tonne of iron ore and 0.700 tonne of coking coal are needed.

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