China’s growing appetite for imported petroleum coke (petcoke) is providing a boost for the smaller bulker sizes, according to a top shipbroker.
Braemer says China and India have been the key generators of petcoke demand through 2022-23. However, this year has been less active for petcokes into Turkey.
“Although imports make up the majority of petcoke burned in China, where the aluminium industry is a major consumer, the rise in inbound petcoke shipments over recent years has been eye-catching,” the broker said.
Figures provided by the shipbroker show that volumes into China have almost doubled since 2020 and are forecast to almost reach 20m tonnes this year.
“In comparison, inbound petcoke volumes into India are far more variable due to the substitutability with steam coal as a fuel for the country’s massive cement sector.
“That said, this year’s petcoke imports into India have been towards the upper end of the range seen in recent years,” the broker added.
In contrast, Turkish petcoke imports have halved in the first half of this year against year-ago levels as the country’s cement producers have been buying more petcoke from domestic oil refineries and using more Russian steam coal.
Braemar said petcoke has been a “trade positive” for the supramax/ultramax sector following the trough of late 2020 with a particularly strong July.
“Our analysis of vessel tracking data shows a 57% jump in ship demand, as expressed in deadweight days, in the two years between the second quarters of 2021 and 2023 thanks to a 26% increase in trade and a disproportionate increase in mainly supramax/ultramax long-haul voyages owing to the high proportion of Atlantic-to-Pacific trades,” the broker said.
The US has long been established as the leading supplier of petcoke with some 77% of US petcoke loading taking place in the US Gulf with 20% from the west coast and 3% ex-east coasts.
“Petcoke supply prospects are currently favourable, with US production supported by strong oil refining margins,” said Braemar.
Elsewhere in the Americas, Venezuela has returned to the international petcoke market, with India receiving its first cargo from the South American nation at the start of 2022.
“This year volumes ex-Venezuela underperformed due to a contractual dispute, according to Reuters, but in July it was reported that PDVSA, Venezuela’s national oil producer, had signed contracts for up to 1.6m tonnes of petcoke to be exported this year,” Braemar said.
