Tata Steel to stop importing coal from Russia

Tata Steel, the largest Indian importer of Russian coal in the first quarter of the year, will stop buying the commodity in a sign that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made it more perilous to do so, Report informs referring to Financial Times.

The Mumbai-based company pointed to the “uncertainties” over the supply of Russian coal, which traders and brokers said India had stepped up purchases of before the war because rival shipments of Australian coal were becoming too expensive.

The move by Tata, which uses coal for steelmaking, is significant because it underscores the challenge of mitigating shortages that have already disrupted India’s power supply. The country relies on coal for 70 percent of its electricity generation and coal stockpiles at power producers have fallen to almost half their average levels for this time of year.

Just over 20 coal-fired power plants have been forced into maintenance, data from India’s Central Electricity Authority shows, as a shortage of supply is compounded by an unseasonal heatwave in the country.