Indian steelmakers are planning to join together to procure imported coking coal for better bargaining in import negotiations and to cope with rising international coking coal prices.

International coking coal prices have risen about 300 percent this year, and India's dependence on imported coking coal has been increasing. Collective purchases of coking coal have been widely discussed among Indian stakeholders.

However, the implementation of the plan is still in its infancy. Initially, the country's leading metallurgical coke producers said that Indian steelmakers have joined forces with coal suppliers sucha as Australia form pricing mechanisms; this is the ideal choice.

At a recent meeting, local coking coal producers and private steel companies in India conducted in-depth discussions on rising coking coal demand, domestic supply shortages and rising import coal prices, and recommended that Indian steel companies unite to Common demand for planning, and to form an alliance in the form of import transactions.

India's local miners and steel prices are that India should follow the example of the practice of Japanese steel enterprises to coalition with Australia, South Africa, coking coal suppliers to reach a long-term supply agreement.

The shift from index pricing to long-term contract pricing will help Indian coking coal importers to better influence import prices.

Finding solutions to rising international coking coal prices is based on two key factors. First of all, a few months ago, the Indian Ministry of Coal in the meeting of the domestic steel industry petition, pointed out that the country can not increase production in a short time, and by 2020, can only increase production capacity to 71 million tons.

Second, to maintain current levels of steel production growth, the Indian steel industry needs to import at least 54 million tonnes of coking coal in 2016-17, compared with 45 million tonnes in the current fiscal year.

If by 2025, the Indian Ministry of Steel plans to achieve domestic steel output 300 million tons, the annual import of coking coal is expected to reach 180 million tons.