Definitions for "Coking coal"
Coal used for making coke, which is used as a reducing agent in smelting.... more on: Coking coal
Coal which meets specific processibility criteria and which has a sufficiently low percentage of contaminants for the production of metallurgical coke, essential to the manufacture of steal.
Coking coal is one of the major materials for making steel from iron ore. It is used for producing pig iron. Coking coal is first roasted to turn it into coke, which is put into a blast furnace to extract iron from iron ore. Hot air is blown into the furnace to raise the inside temperature. Coke needs to be strong enough not to collapse inside the furnace in order to help the hot air circulate efficiently among spaces between the coke. Such strong coke can be produced from heavy coking coal. Heavy coking coal is expensive and produced only in Australia and Canada. Steelmakers have been using more of less expensive coal by devising coke manufacturing technologies. About 80% of the Chinese coal used by Japanese steelmakers is less expensive coal. Steel companies can reduce their production costs by using cost-competitive Chinese coal. Coal mining costs in China and transport costs from the country are lower than other major coal-producing nations.