Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), a Category 1 schedule ‘A’ Miniratna, Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, has increased its petroleum (pet) coke prices w.e.f. 1st Aug’21.
The revised price for road supply is INR 11,440/tonne (t), an increase of INR 1,350/t as against INR 10,090/t in the last month.
Similarly, MRPL has also increased its pet coke price by INR 290/t for supply by rake/barge to INR 11,140/t from INR 9,790/t of last month.
Price Commentaries
MRPL’s sharp increase in its pet coke price by INR 1,350/t in the current month is slightly higher than the price hike by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the country’s largest producer of pet coke.
RIL increased its petroleum coke price with effect from 1 Aug’21 to INR 13,914/t ex-Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat, over its last month’s price of INR 12,783/t, an increase of INR 1,131/t.
RIL’s current price hike comes after an increase of INR 1,294/t last month. In fact, there have been continuous price upticks every month starting from June last year, when the price was at INR 5,697/t, resulting in an increase of INR 8,217/t or over 144% in the past 14 months.
Nayara Energy (erstwhile Essar Oil) also increased its pet coke price to INR 13,958/t ex-Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, over its last month’s price of INR 12,826/t, an increase of INR 1,132/t.
Meanwhile, Indian-delivered prices for seaborne petroleum coke have substantially increased over the past month. But, Indian demand has largely collapsed due to competitively priced thermal coals and exorbitant freight rates.
The current average price of US-origin pet coke, with 6.5% sulphur content, is assessed at $159-160/t on CNF India basis, as against the earlier price of $149-150/t, an increase of $10/t during the last month.
Offers for pet coke from Saudi Arabia, with 9% sulphur content, are presently assessed at around $147-148/t CNF India, up by $15/t compared with $132-133/t prevailing at the beginning of last month.
The US Gulf Coast (USGC) FoB prices of pet coke (6% sulphur), widely accepted as the reference across international markets, have increased by $6/t to $99-100/t, compared with $93-94/t in the last month.
Average shipping freight rates from USGC to Indian ports for Supramax vessels of 50,000-55,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT) are currently assessed at $59.50/t, compared to $60.50/t in the same week last month, a decrease of $1/t.
Outlook
This consistent price rise is mainly due to restricted availability of pet coke in the international market. It is also supported by demand for pet coke by cement manufacturers for road construction and other infrastructural projects. Even though domestic production of pet coke has gradually increased, it is still lower than optimum levels.
Furthermore, lower availability of pet coke in the international market has pushed up prices. There is also a spurt in the prices of imported steam coal, which is primarily used as a substitute for pet coke by cement makers.
Going forward, however, pet coke demand in India may be subdued due to the heavy monsoon rainfalls across the country, which has affected several large-scale infrastructural projects.
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