- Apr-Jun output falls 4% y-o-y, consumption up 3%
- Cement sector leads pet coke consumption growth
India’s domestic production of petroleum coke in June 2025 stood at 1.23 mnt, showing a marginal growth of 2.3% compared with 1.20 mnt in June 2024. Meanwhile, consumption surged 19% y-o-y.
The uptick in production indicates slightly higher operational output and improved refinery throughput, even as overall production remains sensitive to refinery product-mix decisions favouring high-value fuels such as diesel and petrol.
On a m-o-m basis, production in June rose 3.4% from 1.19 mnt in May, reversing the previous month’s moderation. However, cumulative output for April-June 2025 stood at 3.54 mnt, a decline of 4.1% compared to 3.69 mnt in the same period last year. The downtrend reflects ongoing volatility in refinery allocations to pet coke production amid global crude dynamics and fuel product priorities.
Consumption registers double-digit growth
India’s pet coke consumption in June 2025 stood at 1.82 mnt, up 18.9% from 1.53 mnt in June 2024. However, on a m-o-m basis, it dipped by 0.5% compared with 1.83 mnt in May 2025. Despite the marginal dip, June’s consumption stayed nearly aligned with the FY’25 monthly average of 1.84 mnt.
Cumulatively, April-June 2025 consumption stood at 5.19 mnt, a slight 2.6% increase over 5.06 mnt during the same period last year. The cement sector remained the dominant consumer of pet coke, particularly for kiln fuel requirements, followed by limited volumes to lime kilns, gasifiers, and aluminium industries.
In FY’25, India consumed 22.06 mnt of pet coke, of which domestic production met around 67.8%. The remaining 32.2% was met through imports, excluding minor export adjustments. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) regulates pet coke imports strictly, permitting only approved industries – cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide, and gasifiers — to import the material.
Of note, the DGFT raised import allocations of raw petroleum coke (RPC) for calciners from 1.4 mnt to 1.9 mnt from FY’25 onward, enabling increased supply of calcined pet coke (CPC) to aluminium industries. While cement remains the largest end-user segment, CPC and gasification demand contribute to overall volumes.
June’s consumption constituted 9% of India’s total petroleum product consumption of 21.31 mnt, slightly higher than 8.6% in May. On a cumulative basis, April-June pet coke consumption accounted for 8.4% of total petroleum products usage.
Outlook
Going forward, demand may stay moderate during the monsoon, as infrastructure and construction activity – especially from the cement sector – typically slows down. However, overall consumption could remain supported by the expanded import allocation for calciners and steady demand from the aluminium and gasification sectors. Production, meanwhile, will continue to be influenced by refinery economics and the need to prioritise high-value transport fuels.
Leave a Reply