Tata Steel has made no purchases of pulverized coal injection (PCI) coal from Russia since its April announcement cut off trade ties with Russia Amidst the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, a company spokesperson said on June 22.
On April 20, Tata Steel said it would stop doing business with Russia. To ensure business continuity, all its steelmaking sites in India, the UK and the Netherlands have alternate supplies of raw materials to eliminate their dependence on Russia.
“Tata Steel would like to issue a clarification in view of the misinformation being circulated in certain sections of the media regarding purchase/import of coal from Russia,” the spokesperson said.
A deal was finalized in March 2022 to supply 75,000 tonnes of PCI coal and the contract went into effect a few weeks before Tata Steel’s April announcement.
The shipment was received in May 2022 to honor the business commitment made prior to the announcement.
“After the announcement, Tata Steel has not made any fresh purchases of PCI coal from Russia. As a responsible corporate, we remain committed to our stated stance and consequential obligations and will continue to be so,” the spokesperson said.
Pulverized coal is used by steel makers as an auxiliary fuel in blast furnace (BF). Powdered Coal Injection (PCI) is a process that involves injecting a large amount of fine coal particles into the raceway of a BF.