MARKET TREND
The Petcoke market in India is under the influence of strong demand emanating from the active consumption by the user industries. The cement plants in particular have been running at high rates, necessitating bulk purchases of the refinery derived fuel, creating strong demand.
At the same time, there has also been shortage of the material internationally as several refineries in the US are undergoing maintenance shut-down. These refineries are expected to come online by the next month. Some market participants also have revealed that availability of import cargoes were very less.
In India, the Paradip refinery of the state-run Indian Oil Corporation Limited is under maintenance, taking out around 0.1 MnT of Petcoke from the market supply in the country.
PRICE TREND
As sequel to the supply tightness in the US, on account of refinery maintenance shut-downs, the offers have hovered at high rates. There is no prospect for any moderation in the offers within Mar’18 as supply tightness will persist. The refineries are expected to be back to the normal operation by the next month, in which the offers are likely to dip from the current levels.
With the supply tightness in USA in place, refineries in Saudi Arabia have lifted their offers to significant heights, which were considered as ‘too high’ by the Indian buyers.
The latest offers for Petcoke (6.5% Sulphur) from USA were reported at around USD 116/MT CFR India, a rise of around USD 3/MT over the week-ago offers. Simultaneously, the recent offers for Petcoke (9% Sulphur) from Saudi Arabia were reported higher by around USD 10/MT against the offers in the week last. The Saudi Arabian offers this week were reported at around USD 112/MT CFR India.
Source: CoalMint Research
During the last seven days, Indian refineries have not incorporated any price revision, after the major ones raising the ex-works prices by INR 600/MT with the onset of the current month.
Source: CoalMint Research
The prevailing ex-works prices of the major Indian refineries are: INR 8,950/MT (RIL), INR 8,935/MT (Essar) and INR 7,310/MT(MRPL).
In the succeeding week, the prices will remain at these rates, as indicated by the prevailing demand situation.
IMPORTS
Petcoke imports in India have remained low mainly due to the supply shortage in the key international market, and at the same time the offers hovering at high rates in the alternate market—Saudi Arabia.
During the 1-18Mar’18, around 292,271 MT of Petcoke was imported in India, according to the data compiled by CoalMint Research.
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