Quarterly prices of coking coal have fallen by about 15% as demand has weakened due to a cut in production by global majors including Chinese steel mills. Hard coking coal contracts are now priced at USD 225 a tonne as against USD 265 in the previous quarter.

Mr CS Verma chairman of state run Steel Authority of India said that "Prices of prime hard coking coal have come down by 15% in the January to March quarter. It is a falling trend and this is likely to improve the profitability of steel companies."

But Indian steelmakers like SAIL, JSW Steel, TATA Steel and RINL, and mid sized steel companies that import large amounts of coking coal have been exposed to the recent exchange rate fluctuations which have made imports costlier by almost 20%.

(Sourced from ET)