Chinese steel producers hunting for coking coal

BEIJING - Chinese steelmakers are scrambling to buy coking coal mines in Mongolia, China's largest supplier of the fuel.

China is the world's biggest steel producer and needs the coke to keep its blast furnaces in operation.

State-owned steel makers, including Baosteel Group Corp and Jinan Iron & Steel Group Corp, are eyeing projects in Mongolia, which has vast quantities of untapped minerals, according to sources familiar with the situation.