(MENAFN) According to Reuters, India dramatically increased its imports of Russian coal in July after switching to non-dollar payments to close deals. Considering the dollar to be "toxic," Moscow is attempting to steer clear of transactions in light of US sanctions.
With coal imports rising by more than a fifth to a record 2.06 million tons in July compared to the previous month, Russia overtook China as India's third-largest coal supplier.
Based on a summary of transactions compiled by a trade source based in India using customs documents, Indian buyers paid for at least 742,000 tons of Russian coal in June using currencies other than the US dollar, which is equal to 44% of the 1.7 million tons of Russian imports that month.
According to customs documents examined by the agency, Indian steelmakers and cement producers recently bought Russian coal using the UAE dirham, the Hong Kong dollar, the Chinese yuan, and the euro.
Last month, 31% of non-dollar payments for Russian coal were made in Chinese yuan, while 28% were made in Hong Kong dollars. Data from the trade source shows that the euro made up less than a quarter of the total and the Emirati dirham about a sixth.
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