India's pet coke consumption rises by 14% y-o-y in Mar'24

Pet coke consumption up by 7% in April 2023-March 2024

Domestic refineries reduce prices for April deliveries

India's petroleum coke consumption rose by 14% to 1.63 million tonnes (mnt) in March 2024 as against 1.43 mnt in the same period of the previous year. However, consumption rose by 5% m-o-m in March compared to 1.56 mnt in February 2024.

The country's petroleum coke production in March was reported at 1.36 mnt, down 2% from the 1.39 mnt recorded in the same month of the previous year.

In the April 2023-March 2024 period, India's pet coke consumption reached 19.11 mnt, marking a 7% y-o-y increase. Production during this period was assessed at 15.05 mnt, dropped 2 % y-o-y than the 15.39 mnt in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) oversees petroleum coke imports, restricted to select industries like cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide, and gasification. Annual allocations include 1.4 mnt for manufacturing calcined petroleum coke (CPC) and 0.5 mnt for aluminum industries. However, as of financial year 2025 (FY'25), the import quantity of raw petroleum coke (RPC) has increased to 1.9 mnt for calciners. This regulation governs all petroleum coke grades, with no specific quantity allocation for cement industries and major importers.

Pet coke prices

RIL has reduced pet coke prices to INR 13,029/t, down INR 208/t m-o-m. The current month price is lower by same month last year's price by around 21%. RIL releases very limited quantity of pet coke in the market as they utilise major portion of it in their gasification unit.

MRPL reduced its pet coke prices by INR 460/t for April 2024 shipments. Prices of road supply are at INR 9,950/t and for rail supply are at INR 9,650/t. Additionally, MRPL offers a discount of INR 400/t for quarterly volume commitment of 10,000 t and an additional discount of INR 100/t for 40,000 t annual commitment.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) has slashed its pet coke prices of road supply for April 2024 by INR 450/t to INR 13,600/t. There is no rake loading facility by CPCL. The average dispatch of pet coke is 40,000-45,000 t per month. It may be noted here that CPCL majorly supplies to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Outlook

Petroleum coke demand is projected to not to show any significant change due to elections in the country which withholds the construction sectors usage. Cement manufacturers, being significant consumers of pet coke, are anticipated to show some demand until June 2024 before the onset of monsoon.