Domestic petroleum coke production registered a sharp rise of 28% y-o-y to 1.42 mnt in Jan’22 as cement manufacturers increased their procurement amid peak construction activity, CoalMint data showed. On a m-o-m basis, output rose marginally by 2%.
Production in Apr’21-Jan’22 was recorded at 12.09 mnt, up 22% y-o-y .
The growth in pet coke production seen from the start of the ongoing fiscal year comes against the backdrop of improving construction activity since the outbreak of Covid-19.
According to market participants, demand for pet coke from cement manufacturers is likely to remain high as the ongoing peak construction season is seen driving domestic production in the next few months.
Higher thermal coal prices and global uncertainty have again compelled cement manufacturers to shift to pet coke as domestic refineries offered heavy discounts.
However, with the rising trajectory of thermal coal prices, domestic refineries have again raised their prices for the second consecutive month.
Domestic refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) has raised pet coke prices by INR 3,450/t m-o-m to INR 17,972/t for Mar’22 and other major refineries are also set to follow as RIL pet coke prices are taken as the benchmark due to their higher market share.
The Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has allowed the import of pet coke for only select industries such as cement, lime kilns, calcium carbide, and gasification industries.
Further, the annual import quota has been fixed for raw petroleum coke at 1.4 mnt for manufacturing calcined petroleum coke and import of 0.5 mnt of the same by aluminum industries, thus limiting the overall import quantity.
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