Mongolia delays coking coal exports to China
Mongolia extended its ban on the export of coking coal into China until Mar 15 amid Covid-19 outbreak. Over the years, China had been the biggest importer of coking coal from Mongolia. Mongolia had closed its border with China temporarily on Jan 27 which was supposed to reopen on March 2. The ban is further extended until March 15 due to uncertainties about the virus spread. In 2019, China was the top importer of coking coal. Mongolia exported 33.8mn mt of coking coal into China, up from 22.7pc exported in 2018. China’s total import of coking coal stood at 74.5mn mt in 2019, of which Mongolian exported 45pc share.
Langfang issues orange alert
Local government of Langfang city, Hebei province declared orange alert from Feb 27 to March 1. Orange alert is the second highest alert in China’s three-tier warning system. During orange alert, steel mills are required to suspend production. Langfang is home to Langfang Yunhai Metal, Dachang Hui Baosheng Steel, Jinghua Metal, Bazhou Sanqiang Metal and other companies. Production capacity of Bazhou Sanqiang Metal is around 1mn mt and Jinghua Metal is 3.2mn mt per year.
KIOCL received clearance for Mangalore facility
State-owned KIOCL received environmental clearance from the India’s Ministry of Environment for setting up of non-recovery coke oven plant with the capacity of 0.18mn mt, co-gen captive power plant capacity of 10MW and Ductile Iron Spun and pipe with the capacity of 0.2mn mt at its existing premises in Mangalore.
Eastern India to produce 75pc of India’s steel
The Indian government has offered Japan an exclusive industrial steel cluster in Odisha on Thursday to strengthen the steel sector. Eastern India is expected to produce more than 75pc of India’s steel and of which the state of Odisha is expected to produce over 100mt per annum by 2030.