India: IOC increases pet coke prices across refineries

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC), the country’s second-largest petroleum (pet) coke producer, has sharply increased prices of the fuel-grade raw petroleum coke (RPC), from various refineries with effect from 23 Jul’21.

• IOC’s revised price for the material at its Koyali refinery for road supplies is at INR 13,930/tonne (t) compared to its last month’s price of INR 11,620/t, an increase of INR 2,310/t.

• The price for the rake loading category has also been increased by INR 2,310/t to INR 13,730/t from INR 11,420/t seen last month.

• Pet coke price at the Panipat refinery for general states has been revised to INR 13,860/t, over its last month’s price of INR 11,540/t, an increase of INR 2,320/t.

• Price for Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh has also been revised to INR 13,860/t, over its last month’s price of INR 11,540/t, an increase of INR 2,320/t.

• Price at the Paradip refinery for road supplies has been revised to INR 12,230/t over its last month’s price of INR 9,920/t, an increase of INR 2,310/t.

• Price for rake supply has been revised to INR 12,030/t from INR 9,720/t, an increase of INR 2,310/t over last month’s price.

• Price ex-Haldia refinery for road supplies has been revised to INR 12,400/t over its last month’s price of INR 10,090/t, an increase of INR 2,310/t.

• The price applicable for rake supplies has also been increased by INR 2,310/t to INR 12,200/t from INR 9,890/t in the last month.

Price commentaries

Notably, this is yet another all-time high price uptick for raw-petroleum coke at all the refineries. This is mainly because material availability has remained persistently tight in the international market.

The price increases have been mostly uniform by INR 2,310-2,320/t at all refinery locations. Last month, IOC’s price revision varied from (-) INR 510/t to INR 190/t at different refineries.

Comparatively, the pet coke price from the country’s biggest producer, Reliance Industries (RIL),has been increased by INR 1,294/t in the current month. In the last month, RIL had increased the price by INR 132/t.

Prices for rake supplies continue to be lower than road supplies at Koyali, Paradip and Haldia refineries by INR 200/t.

It may be noted that prices of pet coke have firmed up over the past couple of months, particularly for US-origin pet coke. Accordingly, market participants were expecting an increase in the current month’s domestic pricing for pet coke.