[SMM Coal Flash] STLL Acquires Advent Coal, Sainik Mining for INR 9.23 Billion

Japan produced 6.66 million metric tons of crude steel in August 2026, marking a marginal 0.4% year-on-year increase despite a 3.9% sequential month-on-month contraction. Domestic pig iron production simultaneously increased by 1.5% year-on-year to 5.07 million tonnes. Cumulatively for the first eight months of 2026, Japan's crude steel output reached 53.99 million tonnes, maintaining a slight 0.2% volume deficit compared to the same period last year.

On 26 September, an explosion occurred at the Elga coal mine in Yakutia — Russia's largest coking coal deposit — killing four workers who were carrying out welding operations. Despite the incident, no full production halt has been announced for Elga's core production areas. The key industrial base is estimated to hold 2.2 billion mt of coking coal reserves, and the mine produced 35.1 million mt in 2025. The incident has triggered a criminal investigation into safety violations, which may threaten near-term output at the 8,000-employee facility.

India has ordered 112 captive coal-fired power plants with capacity of at least 50 MW to operate at maximum capacity from October 1 through December 31, as the government prepares for an expected increase in electricity demand. The September 25 directive, issued by the federal power ministry under emergency provisions of the Electricity Act, covers captive plants primarily serving aluminium smelters, steel mills, cement plants and oil refineries, including facilities operated by Vedanta, Tata Steel, Hindalco, JSW Steel and others. Generators have also been instructed to sell surplus electricity through power exchanges and submit weekly reports covering generation, captive consumption, available capacity and coal stocks. The measure comes as nearly 40% of India’s coal-fired plants are operating with critically low fuel inventories, amid stronger power demand linked to hotter-than-usual weather.