India’s pet coke consumption in December 2022 rose by 13.6% m-o-m to 1.30 million tonnes (mnt), as per data maintained with CoalMint. The consumption depicted a 24.1% growth y-o-y as compared to 1.05 mnt in December 2021.
Meanwhile, the country’s pet coke production for December stood at 1.36 mnt, up by 28% m-o-m. However, the production fell by around 6.9% y-o-y compared to 1.46 mnt in December, 2021.
Both consumption and production volumes increased amid an improved demand from the construction industry. The rise in construction and infrastructure activities directly boosted pet coke production and consumption.
India’s pet coke consumption in April-December 2022 increased by 15.6% y-o-y to 11.50 mnt and pet coke production was recorded at 11.31 mnt during the period, up by 0.7% y-o-y. The cumulative production was affected in the current fiscal due to shutdown of refineries at Nayara in November and December, 2022.
Month-wise pet coke consumption in financial year 2023 (FY23) has surpassed levels seen in FY22. The petcoke prices reached an all-time high during June, 2022, affecting the overall import volumes resulting in lower consumption. Subsequently, the price got corrected and it is now moving in a narrow range for last two-three months.
Pet coke domestic prices fall, may rise soon
Notably, the domestic manufacturers like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has moderately decreased petcoke prices by approximately INR 166/t but Nayara has marginally increased that by INR 34/t with effect from 1.1.2023, probably due to limited availability of the material from the nearest competing refinery of RIL. Overall, petcoke prices decreased over some weeks in the international market.
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has also decreased petcoke prices by varying amount ranging from INR 60/t to 650/t. The petcoke demand is expected to remain strong in the ongoing infrastructure working season which normally continues up to monsoon.
Considering the present uptrend in the international market, the domestic prices of petcoke is expected to increase moderately by approximately INR 200-300/MT. While RIL and Nayara are expected to broadly follow the trend and others may vary the revisions considering the logistics and marketing conditions prevailing at some of the refineries.
Outlook
It may be noted that the working season for infrastructure activities is in full swing in which cement is the major component. Hence, stakeholders of the infrustructure industry are the major consumers of petcoke. In this context, the domestic pet coke consumption is expected to remain robust for upcoming months unless there is a large gap due to sharp reduction in imported coal prices.
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