The Petcoke market in India has continued to sustain strong demand with users purchasing heavily to run their plants running at high rates, that too at a time when international supplies are nil. There has been no Petcoke supply from USA, a key international market, after the occurrence of the Harvey hurricane on 25Aug’17, as refineries there have temporarily suspended production during their recovery from the devastation caused by the hurricane. Export supply from the other key international market—Saudi Arabia—also had gone dry as the global demand shifted towards the Middle Eastern country due to the export unavailability from USA.
However, the ongoing developments in USA have indicated that the exports are likely to resume from the onset of Nov’17; and that would mean that the international offers are going to fall from the current rates.
For Nov’17 loading, the offers for Petcoke (6.5% Sulphur) from USA are assessed at around USD 107/MT CFR India; and the offers for Petcoke(9% Sulphur) from Saudi Arabia are assessed at around USD 104/MT CFR India.
Source: CoalMint Research
In India, demand for the fuel is strong, and in the absence of international supply purchases have become intense in the domestic markets of the country. Taking advantage of the tightness in international supply and strong domestic demand, Indian Petcoke producers have kept their ex-works prices at high rates.
The country’s largest Petcoke producer, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has quoted its ex-works price at INR 8,100/MT, and Essar, the second largest producer, has quoted its ex-works price at INR 8,090/MT. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has fixed its ex-works price at INR 6,360/MT.
Source: CoalMint Research
On the demand side, consumption of Petcoke has been rising in India. Users mostly prefer the fuel because of its higher calorific value. Estimates show that the demand for Petcoke has been growing at an average rate of around 2.4% month-on-month.
Source: CoalMint Research
IMPORTS
During the 1-11Oct’17 period, a meager Petcoke import volume of around 0.2 MnT had landed at the Indian ports, the data collected by CoalMint Research shows. The import consignments pertained to the bookings in late-Aug’17.
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