Indian Buyers Prefer Saudi Arabian Pet Coke

Constantly falling Saudi Arabian petroleum coke prices attracting Indian buyers to move towards Middle East over the US material.

Imported petroleum coke, highly preferred in Indian cement and ferro industry, is under pressure owing to increasing availability and few deals assessed in the market. This has put Indian buyers in an advantageous position who are now looking for cheaper material from different sources.

At present Saudi Arabian Pet coke is being very competitive for US material.8% sulphur content material is being offered at about USD 61-62/MT CIF India, whereas US Pet coke, bearing sulphur content of 5.5% is assessed at USD 77-78/MT CIF India. Meanwhile, Canada’s Pet coke having sulphur content of 7% is assessed at USD 72/MT CIF India.

Indian importers conventionally prefer US based Pet coke, but increased availability of the substance at lower offers from Middle East, makes it a preferred option for Indian buyers. Saudi Arabia has recently started a new Pet coke plant which has raised supply in the global market.

“Indian importers prefer petroleum coke from Middle East owing to lower cost”, according to a market participant.

“High freight rates have pushed delivered-India prices up to USD 82/MT CFR, but there is no demand at these levels”, a west India based trader said.

Although the Indian cement industry is experiencing a slowdown, resulting in most plants running below capacity, buying Pet coke at high prices does not make production viable for cement manufacturers.

Pet Coke Import from Saudi Arabia in FY15 & FY16

Currently, India has been increasing its Pet coke imports from Middle East, which has supplied about 0.4 MnT Pet coke in current fiscal. Import was about 0.2 MnT in FY15. The country imports about 50% of Pet coke from US every year and rest of the quantity is shipped from different destinations.

Quantity in 000’ MT
Source: SteelMint

India’s Pet Coke Import Scenario

India, one of the major global Pet coke importers, has increased its Pet coke imports in this financial year (Apr’15-July’15) by about 61% compared to same period of last financial. The country’s Pet coke import reached 5.8 MnT in FY15, which was about 2.7 MnT in FY14. In the current fiscal, country’s imports are expected to increase further on the grounds of increased supply and globally falling prices.