India's metallurgical coke manufacturing sector faces severe challenges due to surging imports from China and Indonesia, the Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers Association (IMCOM) said in a statement on Thursday, November 14.
IMCOM said that import volumes from China and Indonesia have increased more than 12.5 times since the 2022-23 financial year, severely impacting domestic production capabilities, adding that it had approached India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in April 2023 regarding the matter.
The DGTR subsequently recommended implementing one-year quantitative restrictions (QRs) on metallurgical coke imports on April 29, 2024. However, implementation of these recommendations remains pending despite support from the Ministry of Coal.
Recent data indicate the severity of the situation, with Indonesian imports exceeding the DGTR's recommended levels by 1,950 percent in 2024-25, while Chinese imports surpassed the recommended levels by over 620 percent, the association said.
The major production centres are located in Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
According to IMCOM, the impact of surging imports has been devastating, leading to thousands of job losses and forcing several plants, primarily in Odisha, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, to either close or operate at less than 25 percent capacity.
IMCOM is urging immediate government intervention through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to implement the DGTR's recommended quantitative restrictions, warning that further delays could severely impact both employment and industrial stability in this crucial sector.