India to tap new coking coal markets in Mongolia, ramp up production in Mozambique

India to tap new coking coal markets in Mongolia, ramp up production in Mozambique

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context: As per Steel Ministry India is exploring coking coal sourcing options beyond Australia, its largest supplier, as it taps into new markets like Mongolia; while it firms up plans to ramp up production at its own mines in Mozambique in Africa.

Coal is a type of sedimentary rock that is combustible. It appears in black or brownish-black colour.

• Mostly, coal contains carbon and variable amounts of other chemical elements such as hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
• There are different types of coal, such as peat, lignite, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, etc. depending on the composition.
• Also, we can categorize coal into different types according to the application; thermal coal and coking coal are two such categories.
  • The key difference between coking coal and thermal coal is that coking coal is mainly used to produce high quality coke, whereas thermal coke is important in producing electricity.

What is Coking Coal?

• Coking coal is a type of coal that is important in making high-quality coke. It is also called metallurgical coal.
• This substance is an essential fuel and is useful as a reactant in the blast furnace process of primary steelmaking. Therefore, the demand for this type of coal is parallel to that of steel.
• Coking coal has a low ash content, low moisture content and low sulfur and phosphorous contents.
• We can categorize coking coal as a type of bituminous coal depending on the chemical composition.
• During the process of coking (production of coke from coking coal), the material tends to swell and its volume increases.
  • The ability of coking coal to form coke relates to its physical properties such as the rank of coal. In contrast to coking coal, thermal coal cannot produce coke when the material is heated.

Why India needs to import it?

India, the world’s second largest producer of crude steel, is also the largest importer of coking coal, which is a key steel making raw material. The domestic requirement is 57 million tonnes (mt), majority of which is imported.

Thermal Coal

• Thermal coal is a type of coal that is mainly used for the generation of power. This type of coal can produce electricity upon heating.
• Thermal coal is also named as steam coal.
• However, due to various environmental considerations, the use of thermal coal is limited now.

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit organization that works to reduce global catastrophic and existential risks facing humanity, particularly existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence (AI). The Institute’s work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. Its founders include MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and its advisors include entrepreneur Elon Musk.