SAIL anticipates 4 Russian coking coal ships in Q3

Amarendu Prakash, Chairman, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), informed that the company was expecting four ships of coking coal from Russia in the September quarter, each with a capacity of 75,000 tonne. He mentioned that similar shipments had occurred in the first quarter (April-June). Additionally, Prakash revealed that the company was actively working on doubling coking coal production capacity in the International Coal Ventures (ICVL) at Mozambique, which currently stands at 2 million tonnes per annum. SAIL holds approximately 48% stake in this joint venture, as per its latest annual report. Addressing the challenges faced by the company, Prakash stated that the on-going high prices of coking coal were directly impacting the company's margins. He also expressed concerns about Europe's carbon tax mechanism, which would further increase the cost of Indian steel exports to Europe. To mitigate these challenges, he informed that the Indian government was in the process of developing local taxation rules and fiscal incentives to counterbalance the impact of these developments. Moreover, Prakash discussed the introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), a pioneering initiative worldwide. He mentioned that starting next month, importers of goods into the European Union would be required to report the emissions embedded in their products. Importers of steel goods would have to pay for these emissions in their shipments from 2026, a move that India planned to challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO).