India's pet coke consumption marginally down in Jun'24

India's petroleum coke consumption dropped marginally by 2.2% m-o-m in June 2024 to 1.63 mnt as compared to 1.67 mnt in May 2024.

On a yearly basis, consumption edged up as compared to 1.60 mnt in June 2023.

Imports are controlled by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and only some qualified industries like cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and gasification industries are allowed to import petroleum coke. The annual allocations have been fixed for import of RPC of 1.4 mnt for manufacturing CPC and imports of 0.5 mnt of CPC by aluminum producers.

Pet coke production inches down m-o-m

The country's petroleum coke production in June 2024 was reported at 1.20 mnt, down on a monthly basis compared to 1.27 mnt in May.

The demand for pet coke is directly linked to infrastructure activities, where cement is the major component. As the cement industry is the major consumer of pet coke, its demand is expected to remain subdued during monsoon across the country.

Pet coke price trend upward in August

RIL has increased pet coke prices up by INR 190/t m-o-m to INR 12,663/t. The current month's price is lower y-o-y by around 4%. RIL releases very limited quantity of pet coke in the market as it utilises a major portion of it in its gasification unit.

Nayara Energy has increased its pet coke prices by INR 221/t to INR 13,063/t for August sales as against last month's price of INR 12,842/t. The price prevailing this month is lower by 2.7% compared to the same month of last year. Nayara is the highest pet coke supplier from a single refinery.

BPCL has revised pet coke prices from its various refineries for August 2024 shipments. Current prices are as below:

• Bina refinery: INR 12,709/t (for rail supply) and INR 12,659/t (for road supply), down by INR 213/t.
  
  
• Kochi refinery: INR 10,794/t (for rail supply), up by INR 84/t. There is no road supply for pet coke from Kochi. The material availability at Kochi is estimated at around 80,000- 85,000 t.
  
  

Outlook-The import quantity of RPC has been increased to 1.9 mnt from 1.4 mnt for calciners. Thus, the overall consumption of pet coke is likely to increase from financial year 2025 (FY'25) onwards. However, the current demand is expected to remain subdued in the near term amid the monsoon.