Pet coke consumption rises by 8% in April-January, 2024
Domestic refineries i.e. RIL and MRPL raise prices for March, 2024 shipments
India’s petroleum coke consumption rose by 11% to 1.68 million tonnes (mnt) in January 2024 as against 1.52 mnt in the same period the previous year. However, consumption rose by 5% m-o-m in January 2024 as compared to 1.60 mnt in December 2023.
The country’s petroleum coke production in January 2024 was reported at 1.28 mnt, dropped 11% from the 1.44 mnt recorded in the same month of the previous year.
In the April- January 2024 period, India’s pet coke consumption reached 16.15 mnt, marking a 8% increase. Production during this period was assessed at 12.50 mnt, dropped 2 % y-o-y than the 12.75 mnt in the corresponding period of the previous year.
For the fiscal year 2024 (FY’24), the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had 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
RIL has marginally raised pet coke prices to INR 13,237/t, up INR 65/t m-o-m in March 2024. The current month’s price is lower by same month in last year’s price by around 25%. RIL releases very limited quantity of pet coke in market as they utilise major portion of it in their gasification unit.
MRPL slashed its pet coke prices by INR 210/t for March 2024 shipments. Prices for road supply are at INR 10,410/t and for rail supply are at INR 10,110/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.
Outlook
Pet coke imports poised to rise due to increased industrial activities, particularly in cement industries, the major consumers, and hence the overall demand for pet coke is expected to increase in coming months.