India’s Pet Coke Production Down 11% and Consumption Down 15% Y-o-Y in Feb’19

Domestic production of petroleum coke in Feb’19 has been 0.98 MnT (million metric ton), against 1.1 MnT in Feb’18, registering a reduction of 10.9%.

On cumulative basis, production in Apr’18-Feb’19 has been 12.44 MnT against 12.75 MnT during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, registering a reduction of 2.4%.

The reduction in the country’s monthly pet coke production in February is mainly due to shutdown of delayed coker unit (DCU) by IndianOil’s Panipat refinery, coupled with lower production by Reliance Industries. The shutdown of Panipat refinery commenced from 15 Feb’19 onwards, leading to further reduction of pet coke production volume on cumulative basis from -1.6% till Apr’18-Jan’19 to -2.5%.

The overall domestic pet coke consumption in Feb’19 has been 1.58 MnT, against 1.86 MnT in Feb’18, registering a reduction of approximately 15%.

On cumulative basis, consumption in Apr’18-Feb’19 has been 19.86 MnT against 23.72 MnT last year same period, registering a reduction of 16.3%.

The reduction in pet coke consumption on cumulative basis has been mainly due to restrictions and uncertainties prevailing on imports earlier in FY 2019, caused by various orders by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

Subsequent to clarity on import for selected industries like cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and gasification, the apex court had also allowed import of raw petroleum coke by calciners and calcined petroleum coke by aluminum industry. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued notification dated 26 Nov’18, advising the procedure for issuance of import license.

Further, DGFT has made allocations on 27 Dec’18 based on 50% of the production capacities of each calciner, as indicated in State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) certificates. Therefore, the total quantity of 7,00,000 MT (50% of annual quantity of 1.4 MnT) has been allocated to 9 calciners, which is valid up to 31 Mar’19. Some of the calciners have completed their allocations, while some of them have surrendered the allocations, who could not import the allocated quantity.

The new allocations for FY 2019-20 are yet to be given by DGFT.