Kolmar aims to become first Russian exporter of coking coal to India
NERYUNGRI, Yakutia. Sept 11 (Interfax) - Kolmar Group intends to become the first Russian supplier of coking coal to Indian steel plants, the company's principal owner, Anna Tsivileva told reporters on Thursday.
Kolmar's new coal terminal at the Port of Vanino can accommodate large-capacity Panamax vessels and "we're going specifically to India," which is a "very promising market," Tsivileva said, adding that Russia does not currently export coking coal to India.
The group has shipped several trial batches of coal so far.
The main supplier of coking coal to India is Australia, and the United States and Canada also ship substantial amounts to the Indian market. However, Indian steelmakers are prepared to diversify supplies and reduce their dependence on the main suppliers. Furthermore, Russian companies' entry into this market will be facilitated by the friendly relations between Russia and India, Tsivileva, who owns 70% of Kolmar, said.
At negotiations with Indian steelmakers, Kolmar representatives said that Russian steel producers get a good product working only with domestic coal, she said.
Indian steelmakers "do not need to adapt production, they need to adapt the charge," and a recipe for the coal charge has already been created, Tsivileva said. "We're proposing to use our charge. This will enable them to change, reduce the cost of the charge, and get the same quality coke in the end," she said.
However, logistics and disruptions in supplies are a "big threat" for Russian suppliers, she said.
"Reputation is very important here. [...] And we went the way of becoming an autonomous company - we do geological exploration ourselves, mine the coal, prepare it. We have our own laboratories, we trust the quality. Now we're considering the possibility of buying our own gondola cars. And we've built our own [marine coal] terminal," Tsivileva said.
As for railway shipments of coal from Yakutia, where it is mined, to the terminal in Vanino, Kolmar is not particularly concerned at the moment.
"The load [on the Trans-Siberian Railway and Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM)] is very big right now. It's a little easier for us, because we're closer [to the port] and BAM and Transsib lines with connectors run [parallel near Yakutia], and if one line is full we can switch to the other. We don't run into the bottleneck that is hurting [the Kuznetsk coal basin]," Tsivileva said.
However, the congestion on railways is "slowing the plans of investors," other companies, including in the Kuznetsk basin, she added.