Indian petcoke producers raise domestic prices amid supply tightness: sources

Indian petcoke producers have increased their domestic prices for May amid tight supply and elevated global thermal coal prices due to countries struggling to replace Russian coal, market sources said May 4.

India's largest petcoke producer Reliance Industries Ltd., or RIL, increased its offer by Rupee 441/mt ($5.77/mt) from April, according to a note to traders seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights. RIL's new petcoke offer for May is Rupee 22,257/mt.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd., or CPCL, a subsidiary of state-run Indian Oil Corp., has revised its price for domestic petcoke to Rupee 22,070/mt for May, up Rupee 40/mt from April, according to a similar note to traders seen by S&P Global.

RIL did not respond to queries, and Chennai Petroleum could not be reached for a comment.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., or MRPL, sharply increased its petcoke price by Rupee 4,140/mt to Rupee 20,640/mt for supply by road in May and to Rupee 20,340/mt for supply by railway rake.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., or BPCL, revised its petcoke price at Bina refinery up Rupee 5,505/mt to Rupee 23,156/mt and the price at its Kochi refinery by Rupee 5,583/mt to Rupee 21,259/mt, according to a note seen by S&P Global.

MRPL could not be reached for a comment immediately, while BPCL confirmed the prices at its two refineries.

A Nayara Energy company source said that the company has also raised its petcoke price by Rupee 434/mt to Rupee 22,262/mt for May.

Traders said that domestic petcoke prices were still rising or were steady, despite a correction in international prices, as domestic producers had not increased the prices in March.

"They [domestic petcoke producers] only revise prices on a monthly basis, and they could not increase the prices in March, so they feel they can keep prices at these levels due to current global conditions," an India-based trader said.

Traders pegged the price of India-delivered petcoke with 6.5% sulfur at $255-$260/mt CFR for the week ending May 6.