India's imports of petcoke are expected to more than double this year, industry officials say, as competitive prices are driving cement makers to switch to the fuel as an alternative to coal. A tonne of petcoke, a refinery byproduct, is more expensive than coal, but produces more energy when burnt. It is generally not used as fuel because of toxic emissions, but is widely used
Firm seaborne thermal coal prices and volatile freight rates have slowed down interests from Asia’s ex-Chinese markets like Thailand, Vietnam and India, market sources told S&P Global Platts. These markets are expected to return in March on hopes that prices and freight would ease for procurement in April. Prices soared after Indonesia’s ban on coal .
As the Ukraine-Russia crisis intensifies and threatens to spark conflict in Europe, analysts warn there may be implications for Asia, where several countries depend on Russia for oil, gas and coal. Any invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops could trigger sanctions and reprisals that would disrupt the movement of fuels and impact energy security affecting .
For Australian coal, which has faced restrictions in the Chinese market since late 2020, new windows of opportunities have opened up. Many other Asian markets – such as India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – have witnessed sharp rises in Australian coal inflows. China imposed the unofficial ban on Australian coal in November 2020 after .