India‘s petroleum coke consumption rose by 6% to 1.47 mnt in September 2023 as against 1.1 mnt in the same period the previous year. However, there was a 11% m-o-m decline in September compared to August. The country’s petroleum coke production in September 2023 was reported at 1.1 mnt, showing a 10% drop from the 1.24 mnt recorded in the same month of the previous year.
In the April-September 2023 period, India‘s pet coke consumption reached 9.35 mnt, marking a 7% increase. Production during this period was assessed at 7.48 mnt, slightly lower than the 7.67 mnt in the corresponding period of the previous year.
For the fiscal year 2024 (FY’24), the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has initially allocated only 1 mnt of raw pet coke (RPC) due to ongoing court cases. The remaining allocation is expected to be determined after the resolution of these legal matters. DGFT is responsible for regulating imports of all grades of petroleum coke and setting limits on the overall import quantity of RPC.
Pet coke prices-
- BPCL has raised pet coke prices by up to INR 1,423/t from its various refineries for Oct’23 shipments. Current prices –
Bina refinery: INR 14,722/t (for rail supply) and INR 14,672/t (for road supply).
Kochi refinery: INR 12,943/t (for rail supply), up by INR 290/t. There is no road supply for pet coke from Kochi. The material availability at Kochi is estimated at around 75,000- 80,000 t.
- Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has reduced its pet coke prices by INR 669/t to INR 13,660/t for October sales. The current month price is about 24.6% lower than price of same month last year. RIL is releasing very limited quantity in the market for sale as they are consuming major portion of their production of pet coke in their gasification units.
- MRPL raised its pet coke prices by INR 880/t for October shipments. Prices for road supply are at INR 12,240/t and for rail supply are at INR 11,940/t. Additionally, MRPL offers a discount of INR 400/t for quarterly volume commitment of 10,000 t and an additional discount of INR 100/t for 40,000 t annual commitment.
- Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) has increased its pet coke prices for road supply for October by INR 220/t to INR 14,810/t. There is no rake loading facility by CPCL. The average dispatch of pet coke is 40,000-45,000 t per month. It may be noted here that CPCL majorly supplies to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Outlook
As the monsoon is over now, the infrastructure activities are expected to increase in which cement is the major requirement. These cement industries are the major consumers of pet coke, as such the overall demand for pet coke is expected to increase in the coming months.
