Indian Petcoke Market Sees Stable Domestic Prices, Strong Demand

Strong demand, stable domestic prices have persisted in the Petcoke market in India.

INTERNATIONAL OFFERS DIP

Petcoke offers from the key international markets have dipped insignificantly from the rates assessed the week last. However, the import demand in international markets was strong as countries, like China and South Africa have started importing the fuel, and India already being a regular importer.

According to the latest assessment, Petcoke (6.5% Sulphur) offers from USA were at around USD 97/MT CFR India, which were lower by USD 5/MT over the week-ago rates. Offers for Petcoke (9% Sulphur) from Saudi Arabia were also lower by USD 3/MT, at around USD 95/MT CFR India, than the rate in the week last, according to the assessment.

Source: CoalMint Research

DOMESTIC PRICES STAY UNMOVED

Despite shortage and strong demand prevailing in the Indian market, the domestic refineries have kept their ex-works prices unchanged.

Shortage of the material has arisen due to the ongoing maintenance shut-down of the refinery of HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HPCL), and inadequacy in imports. The maintenance shut-down is heard to last until the third week of Jun’17.

At the same time, demand in the country is strong as the user-industries consumed the material on a regular basis, necessitating frequent purchases.

The prevailing ex-works prices of Reliance Industries Limited, the largest producer in the country, is at INR 7,150/MT; while, that of Essar, the country’s second largest producer, is at INR 7,145/MT.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has quoted its ex-works price at INR 6,180/MT, for customers outside the Karnataka state; and for customers within the state, the price is quoted at INR 6,080/MT.

Source: CoalMint Research

PRODUCTION DOWN M-o-M

Petcoke production in India shrunk by 8.6% in Apr’17 over that in Mar’17, according to the latest inputs received. During Apr’17, 1,059 ’000MT of Petcoke was produced in the country that trailed behind the production, at 979 ‘000MT, in the previous month.

Source: CoalMint Research

On a year-on-year comparison, the production in Apr’17 overtook that in the same month of the last fiscal by 8.1%. In Mar’17, the production was lower at 1,159 ‘000MT.

IMPORTS

During the 1-26May’17 period, around 0.8 MnT of Petcoke was imported into India, data collected by CoalMint Research shows.