Posted on 26 Sep 2025
Indian metallurgical coke producers have flagged potential misuse of the advance authorization scheme (AAS) by domestic steelmakers, according to the Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers’ Association (IMCOM).
The scheme allows duty-free import of raw materials on the condition that they are used exclusively for export-oriented steel production, notes Kallanish.
IMCOM highlighted a significant mismatch between India’s steel production and met coke imports.
With annual finished steel output at around 160 million tonnes and average exports of 5mt, met coke imports remain unusually high at roughly 2.8mt/year. With 0.5mt of met coke needed to produce 1mt of steel, the numbers suggest that a sizeable portion of imported coke is being diverted for domestic consumption rather than exports.
The association has asked the government to look into the alleged misuse, saying it goes against AAS export rules. India has capped met coke imports at 1.4mt for January–June 2025 and repeated the same limit for July–December. Steelmakers are pushing to lift the quota to 9.3mt, mainly from Indonesia, followed by Japan and Poland.
According to trade data seen by Kallanish, India consumed about 54mt of met coke in 2024, of which roughly 9% came from imports and the rest from domestic production. In January–August 2025, imports fell 20% y-o-y to 2.45mt. India produced around 108mt of crude steel in first eight months of 2025.
Market experts warn that if India keeps depending on imported met coke, the government is likely to watch steelmakers more closely to make sure they are not misusing duty-free import schemes.
“If the government changes the import quotas either raising or cutting them it could directly impact how much met coke is available for local steelmakers. That would then affect prices in the domestic market. This is because there is already a mismatch. India produces far more steel than it exports, so much of the imported coke is actually used for steel sold at home,” concludes a Mumbai-based steel manufacturer.
Source:Kallanish
