In Feb’18, Petcoke imports in India were the lowest during FY18, falling by around 8% over the imports in the preceding month, an analysis of the import data gathered by CoalMint Research shows.
Imposition of a higher Import Duty at 10% in the country and higher export offers were the twin factors responsible for the shrinkage in the imports during the month. Indian buyers thus had found it more worthwhile to procure from the domestic market rather than importing on cost considerations.
In the penultimate month of FY18, around 0.46 MnT of Petcoke was imported in the country against the imports of around 0.5 MnT in Jan’18. It could also be recalled that the imports were significantly lower in Jan’18 due to the same factors.
Source: CoalMint Research
On year-on-year comparison, the Feb’18 imports exhibited a downfall of around 50% against the imports 0.92 MnT in Feb’17.
During the month under review, the imports from Saudi Arabia constituted around 65% share in the total imports; while the imports from USA constituted 31%. Imports from USA were lower due to the prevalence of supply tightness in the continent on account of several refineries there undergoing maintenance.
| Quantity in MnT | |||
| ORIGIN | Feb’18 | Jan’18 | Change(%) |
| USA | 0.14 | 0.3 | -53.3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.3 | 0.2 | 50.0 |
| Others | 0.02 | 0 | NA |
| TOTAL | 0.46 | 0.5 | -8.0 |
Source: CoalMint Research
Among the various ports in the country, the Mangalore port had handled the highest volume of import traffic during the month; followed by the Vizag, Kandla and Gangavaram ports.
Source: CoalMint Research
The major importers were: Dalmia Cement, Ultratech Cement, Ambuja Cement, OCL India, among others, during the month under review.
In Mar’18, there seems no prospect for the imports to upturn significantly.
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