Domestic production of petroleum coke has been 1.14 MMT (million metric ton) in Nov’18, registering a year-on-year decrease of 2.56%, as compared with 1.17 MMT of pet coke produced domestically in Nov’17.
Moreover, the production in Nov’18 has been 9.5% lower than the production of 1.26 MMT in the month Oct’18.
However, on cumulative basis, production during Apr’18-Nov’18 has been 9.53 MMT against 9.14 MMT during the same period of the last fiscal year, registering a growth of 4.27%.
The decline in pet coke production in the month of November is mainly due to planned long shutdown of Delayed Coker Unit (DCU) by Nayara Energy, partly during Nov’18 and Dec’18. This has also led to moderation of growth on cumulative basis from 5.3% to 4.3%.
The overall domestic pet coke consumption in Nov’18 has been 1.86 MMT, against 1.90 MMT in Oct’17, down 2.1%. On cumulative basis, consumption during Apr-Nov’18 has been 14.60 MMT against 17.84 MMT last year same period, down 18.2%.
Indian pet coke production and consumption figures are represented graphically as below:
Source: CoalMint Research
The negative growth on cumulative basis is primarily due to restrictions and uncertainties prevailing on imports, caused by various orders by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and subsequent notifications by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Therefore, major cement companies had earlier opted for high calorific-value US coal in place of imported pet coke.
Subsequent to clarity on import for selected industries like cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and gasification, the import of pet coke has gradually increased mainly by the cement companies.
Furthermore, the SC has also allowed import of Raw Petroleum Coke by calciners and Calcined Petroleum Coke by aluminum industry with specified quantity limits. Based on DGFT notification dated 26 Nov’18, the licenses for import will be issued by 21 Dec’18 with validity up to 31 Mar’19. This will also help increase the import and/or consumption of pet coke in India.
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