Coal news and updates

Saudi pet coke exports likely to resume from January

December 18: The Saudi Arabian refinery – Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP) - is likely to re-start exports of petroleum coke from January 2015, after a gap of several months, industry sources said.

Exports of pet coke from the refinery had come to a halt due to loading-related issues as its conveyor system had not been ready, the sources claimed.

A number of Indian cement companies, including UltraTech, had brought in pet coke from Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the year as they were getting the material at a much lower price compared to those from the US Gulf coast, they said.

“If SATORP can export from January, this move will be used as a bargaining chip with US Gulf suppliers and we can expect lower prices without a question!” an official admitted.

“It (imports from Saudi Arabia) could mean an extra four-five cargoes (Supramax) per month,” the official said, adding, “It generally trades at $10 per ton discount to equivalent high sulphur fixed petcoke prices in India and the rest of the Pacific.”

Indian refiners, including Reliance Industries, generally try to maintain parity with imported prices.

Reliance had set a price of Rs 6,350 per ton for its pet coke for loading in December for bulk consumers, down Rs 100 per ton from the November price, according to information available with ICMW.

Domestic prices of pet coke may fall further if imports resume from Saudi Arabia.

The material from Saudi Arabia comes with a very high sulphur content of at least 7%, while domestic pet coke has sulphur content of about 6%, sources said.