Petcoke demand has weakened in India. This is due to the ban called by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Petcoke usage.
Readers will recall that the NGT had in May’17 banned all units, using Petcoke without the requisite permission for using the fuel, due to the polluting nature of Petcoke. At the same time, the NGT directed all the state governments in the country to frame their respective Petcoke usage policies within a time-frame of two months. In this context, it is to be noted that the cement industry is outside the purview of the NGT ban as the cement plants are equipped with anti-polluting mechanism.
As a sequel to the weakening demand, Petcoke offers from the key international regions have decreased. Of late, the offer for Petcoke (6.5% Sulphur) from USA is reported to come down to around USD 89/MT CFR India, recording a drop of around USD 3/MT from that the last week. The latest offer for Petcoke(9% Sulphur) from Saudi Arabia is reported lower by around USD 5/MT at around USD 85/MT CFR India (than the week-ago offer).
Source: CoalMint Research
However, there was no change in the ex-works prices of the Petcoke producers in India. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the largest Petcoke producer in the country, has quoted its ex-works price at INR 7,000/MT. Essar, the second largest producer in India, has set its ex-works price at INR 6,990/MT. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has quoted its ex-works price at INR 6,610/MT.
Source: CoalMint Research
In the coming days, imports, especially from Saudi Arabia, are expected to decline as Petcoke of the country is characterized by higher concentration of Sulphur.
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