Coal news and updates

RIL cuts pet coke prices by Rs 100/ton for August loading

August 14: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India’s largest petroleum coke producer, has reduced by Rs 100 per ton the ex-refinery price of fuel-grade petroleum coke for bulk buyers for loading in August 2014, an industry source said.

The company had reduced prices by a similar margin for July 2014 and June 2014 loading which means it has reduced prices for three consecutive months.

The ex-refinery price for bulk buyers for loading in July will now be Rs 6,450 per ton for bulk customers as compared to Rs 6,550 in July, Rs 6,650 in June and Rs 6,750 per ton in May.

The cut in prices in August was largely due to continued softness in imported pet coke prices, which fell by around $5 per ton between June and July, including a decline in freight rates by $3.00 per ton, industry sources said.

In June, the cut in price was basically prompted by an appreciation in the Indian rupee that has made imports cheaper, sources said.

“Domestic pet coke prices are likely to remain soft in August too due to low demand as well as a softness in imported pet coke prices,” they added.

“The current price of imported pet coke is around $92-93 per ton CFR India, down from $98.00 per ton in June,” sources said.

“As the cost of using imported pet coke came down, domestic refiners opted to reduce their prices to retain customers,” an official from a cement company told ICMW.

Earlier, in April, RIL had increased the price by Rs 100 per to Rs 6,750 per ton after rolling it over in March 2014. The company had increased the price by Rs 150 per ton to Rs 6,650 per ton for February loading.

Prior to February 2014, RIL had last increased the price by Rs 200 per ton in November 2013 to Rs 6,500 per ton. The company had increased the price by Rs 300 per ton to Rs 6,300 per ton in September 2013 to keep parity with the imported price which had increased in view of a sharp depreciation in the Indian currency.

This means, the company has increased the price of pet coke by Rs 850 per ton from a low of Rs 5,900 per ton prevailing in June 2013 to Rs 6,750 per ton in April 2014. Compared to Rs 5,700 per ton price in February 2013, the price in August 2014 is up by Rs 750 per ton.

Though information from other refiners like Essar, HPCL and BORL who generally follow RIL in fixing their pet coke prices is not available at present, they are also likely to follow suit so far as fixing their August 2014 loading prices is concerned, sources feel.