Mining companies are seeking to cut costs in an attempt to reduce their exposure to the global coal industry.
In the process, they’re also increasing their reliance on foreign suppliers.
Read more article Mining and power generation companies have also faced growing competition from cheaper Chinese imports.
And as India’s economy has expanded to more than 200 million people, demand for coal has increased even as other countries have struggled to get their economies back on track.
In recent years, coal has become increasingly popular with industrial users in countries like Indonesia, India, Brazil and the United States, as well as with countries like the UK, Canada, the US and France.
A global glut of coal has meant the world is exporting less to India and other developing economies.
As the demand for its products has risen, so has the price, according to a new report from the Energy Policy Institute.
A lot of India’s coal, a lot of its steel, a tonne of steel, and a ton of coal can be bought for less than a penny a ton, said Rajesh Goyal, the institute’s executive director.
“It’s a bit like a drug,” he said.
“And it’s getting cheaper.”
The EPI report found that India’s imports from China in 2016 stood at $1.7 billion.
Of that, $8.6 billion was coal.
But India’s exports of the same coal, including steel, were only $3.5 billion.
Coal is India’s second largest export after natural gas, and its third largest import after iron ore.
India has already increased its coal imports from abroad to about $100 billion in the last two years.
And according to Goyal and other industry analysts, India’s dependence on imports of coal will only increase in coming years.
“The future of the Indian coal industry is very bright,” Goyal said.
A large share of India is already using coal for power generation.
More than 50% of India produces electricity from coal, according a report by the World Bank.
India’s government has announced plans to invest $1 trillion in upgrading its coal plants.
But the EPI research also found that coal-fired power stations have become increasingly unreliable, and the government has not been able to invest in upgrades.
India produces just about 70% of the world’s coal and has about 30% of global coal reserves, according the World Resources Institute.
In 2016, India produced about 2.3 million metric tons of coal, about a third of the global total.
India also has coal-dependent industries, like steel and aluminium, and coal-producing mines.
The report said India could become a net importer of coal if its reliance on imports was cut.
And the EBP said it expects that to happen.
“There is no question that India is likely to become a coal importer over time, given its current and projected consumption growth,” the EPP said.
India imports about 80% of its coal, but it has been increasing imports to more countries like China, the EPRI report said.
China’s imports are falling, and India has become a major supplier of steel and aluminum, according and EPI.
India, by contrast, imports almost 70% and has become one of the top buyers of iron ore and coal, said Goyal.
Coal and steel India is not alone in its dependence on coal.
Australia is also dependent on coal, and Germany and China are also using coal to generate power.
The EPRIs report said that India imports $1 billion worth of coal from China every day.
And coal has also become more common in the US, as coal mining companies have found new ways to cut their exposure, according.
“I think China will become a lot more of a player in the coal industry,” said K.K. Suresh, the executive director of the Energy Resources Institute at the University of Michigan.
“But I do think there’s still a long way to go,” he added.
Coal in India: A case study Coal is a commodity that’s been around for a very long time.
And for decades, there was no reliable way of separating coal from other minerals.
That is, until the 1970s, when the Indian government began producing coal from its own mines.
Today, India is the world leader in coal, making up nearly half of all the world supply.
In India, it is used in more than 80% (almost 90 billion metric tons) of the coal produced in the country, according EPRs report.
In that time, the country has produced almost 70 million tons of copper and nearly 20 million tons (about 18 million metric ton) of nickel, according data from the United Nations.
And it’s used to make steel, cement, ceramics and other materials, including textiles.
Coal production in India is now increasing, as has the demand from China.
But it’s not just China.
In fact, it has grown much faster in the past decade than it has