Coal news and updates

Pet coke starts arriving into India from Middle East

July 21: A leading cement-maker from India recently finalised a deal to bring in petroleum coke (fuel grade) from the Saudi Aramco Total Refinery & Petrochemicals Company (SATORP), at Jubail in Saudi Arabia, an industry source said.

ICMW had reported in April that production from SATORP, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and Total Refinery, has already commenced, but the material is likely to hit the market in the second quarter of 2014.

“ACC Cement recently concluded a deal to bring in two vessels of pet coke from SATORP. One of the two vessels sailed on July 11 and arrived on July 19 at either Gangavaram or Vizag port, while another cargo is expected to be loaded in end-July,” the source added.

“There is indeed some price differential between pet coke sourced from the Middle East and that from the US Gulf Coast and many Indian companies may start looking at the former market,” the source added.

“ACC, reportedly, bought the cargo from the Middle East at about $94 per ton CIF, which is not a big cost differential considering that similar cargo from the US Gulf Coast is available at around $96 per ton CIF India,” said another source.