Indian delivered petcoke prices under pressure due to low demand

Prices of delivered petcoke to India fell again as seaborne demand after the Diwali break remained subdued and cheaper alternatives could be found.

Reliance Industries Ltd reduced its November domestic petcoke price to INR6172/t, down INR728/t MoM and representing a fall of over 10 per cent, according to sources quoted by Platts Coal Trader.

In terms of demand, bids for imported coal have been reportedly sparse as most cement plants have already covered their inventory needs.

Moreover, Indian domestic petcoke is becoming more competitive and imported product prices have fallen to the levels of their domestic equivalent.

Offers for US petcoke were around US$69/t CFR India with a fair value reported as US$66/t CFR India.

The FOB US Gulf Coast price is estimated at around US$29-29.50/t while the USGC to East Coast India freight rate comes in at around US$34/t.

Delivered petcoke prices have yet to hit the bottom as downstream cement demand has been very low and freight rates have been falling, said a west India-based trader.