India to step up coking coal shipments from Russia

India will step up imports of coking coal, a key material in steel manufacturing, from Russia, as cargoes from top supplier Australia drop and steel mills struggle with rising prices.

Steel mills in India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer, have struggled with patchy supplies of coking coal from Australia, which normally accounts for more than half of India's annual imports of around 70 million tons, Reuters reports citing three government sources and an industry executive.