- Pet coke production in Apr’24 up by 4%
- Domestic refineries hike prices for May
India’s petroleum coke consumption increased by 21% to 1.67 million tonnes (mnt) in April 2024 as against 1.38 mnt in the same period of the previous year. However, consumption rose by 2.4% m-o-m in April 2024 as compared to 1.63 mnt in March 2024.
The country’s petroleum coke production in April 2024 was reported at 1.23 mnt, increasing by 4.1% from the 1.23 mnt recorded in the same month of the previous year.
In the April 2023-March 2024 period, India’s pet coke consumption reached 19.11 mnt, marking a 7% y-o-y increase. Production during this period was assessed at 15.05 mnt, dropping 2% y-o-y against 15.39 mnt seen in the corresponding period of the previous year. Consumption in April 2024 was 5% higher than the annual average of 1.59 mnt for FY’24, while production in April 2024, of 1.23 mnt, is 2.3% lower than the average production of 1.25 mnt for FY24.
The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which oversees petroleum coke imports, restricted pet coke imports to select industries like cement, lime kilns, calcium carbide, and gasification. Annual import allocations include 1.4 mnt of calcined petroleum coke (CPC) and 0.5 mnt for the aluminum units. However, as of financial year 2025 (FY’25), import volumes of raw petroleum coke (RPC) have been increased to 1.9 mnt for calciners. This regulation governs all petroleum coke grades, with no specific quantity allocated for cement units and major importers. Thus, this norm is expected to increase the overall consumption of pet coke from FY’25 onwards.
Pet coke prices
Reliance Industries (RIL) has increased pet coke prices to INR 13,239/t, up INR 210/t m-o-m. The current month’s price is lower by 10% from that seen in May last year. RIL releases very limited quantities of pet coke in the market as it utilises major portion of the same in its gasification unit.
MRPL has increased its pet coke prices by INR 800/t for May 2024 shipments. Prices via road supply are at INR 10,750/t and via rail at INR 10,450/t. Additionally, MRPL offers a discount of INR 400/t for quarterly volume commitment of 10,000 t and an additional discount of INR 100/t for 40,000-t annual commitment.
Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) has increased its pet coke prices via road supply for May by INR 100/t to INR 13,700/t ex-plant. There is no rake loading facility for CPCL. The average dispatch of pet coke is 40,000-45,000 t per month. It may be noted here that CPCL majorly supplies to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh buyers.
Outlook
Infrastructure activities have been slightly affected due to the general elections, which will be completed on 1 June, 2024. It is expected that these activities will pick up again until the monsoon arrives in mid-June 2024. The cement industry, being a major consumer of pet coke, will likely keep the overall demand for the material firm until the monsoon begins.