In an interaction with CoalMint, a North India based trader commented,” The Petcoke market is calm and quiet, and no one knows what will happen next.”
His comment perfectly describes the state of affairs in respect to the market in Delhi/NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan—where the Supreme Court Petcoke usage ban is operating. However, some moderate demand was reported from the southern and western regions of India.
What will be the fate of the Petcoke industry in India is unclear; but a recent statement by Dharmendra Pradhan–the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister– to the media throws at least some faint light into the future market scenario. The Minister told, “The Ministries of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Environment and Commerce are working on a policy to put restrictions on Petcoke imports in India. We are also planning to stop imports and use domestically produced Petcoke for non-polluting sectors, like cement.”
Interpreting his statements, it could thus be inferred that there is a possibility of some relaxations in the existing Supreme Court ban; and industrial units equipped with anti-polluting devises might be allowed to use the refinery-derived fuel.
As a matter of fact, the demand for Petcoke in India is at around 25 MnTPA, out of which around 12 MnT is imported.
Although, the Supreme Court was scheduled to declare its final verdict today; but it is postponed to 11Dec’17.
On the pricing front, refineries in India have lowered their ex-works prices in view of the shrinking demand.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the country’s largest producer, has lowered its ex-works price by INR 450/MT to INR 7,650/MT with effect from 1Dec’17; while, Essar, the second largest producer in the country, also lowered its ex-works price by INR 450/MT to 7,640/MT.
Source: CoalMint Research
In contrast, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited has raised its ex-works price by INR 180/MT to INR 7,130/MT with effect from 1 Dec’17—apparently to capitalize upon the prevailing demand in the regions of the country unaffected by the Supreme Court ban.
On the other hand, the international offers have remained more or less at around the week-ago rates. The latest offer for Petcoke (6.5% Sulphur) from USA is reported at around 102/MT CFR India, almost steady at the week-ago offer. And the recent offer for Petcoke (9% Sulphur) from Saudi Arabia is reported at around USD 95/MT CFR India, down by around USD 3/MT from the offer reported in the week last.
Source: CoalMint Research
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