India's met coke production falls nearly 10% m-o-m in Sep'23

India's met coke production decreased by 9% m-o-m to 3.47 million tonnes (mnt) in September 2023 as against 3.83 mnt in August, according to SteelMint data.

Out of the total production, merchant met coke output was 0.2 mnt, down significantly by 23% m-o-m, while captive production stood at 3.27 mnt, down 9% m-o-m.

Indian met coke imports fell by 14% in September. Coke imports for September were recorded at 0.19 mnt as against 0.22 mnt in August. Imports from China were recorded at 0.03 mnt in September as against 0.05 mnt in August.

Steel market indicators

During September India's finished steel production remained stable at 10.930 mnt, unchanged compared to 10.941 mnt in August. Meanwhile, production rose by 12.6% y-o-y compared to 9.707 mnt in September 2022.

India's finished steel exports plunged 69.3% m-o-m to 0.157 mnt in September compared with 0.512 mnt in August. Exports declined by 72.8% y-o-y against 0.577 mnt in September 2022, as per provisional data released by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) under the Ministry of Steel.

Crude steel production by Indian mills inched down by 3.6% m-o-m at 11.482 mnt in September as against 11.904 mnt in August. However, production increased by 16.7% y-o-y compared to 9.839 mnt in September 2022.

India's finished steel consumption stood at 11.169 mnt in September. Consumption edged up by 1.6% m-o-m as against 10.995 mnt in September. Moreover, consumption rose by about 17.9% y-o-y compared with 9.471 mnt in September 2022.

Outlook

Indian met coke production may drop on lower offtake by mills. Current prices are not being accepted by end-users. Elevated coking coal prices have driven met coke prices higher.