Despite petcoke prices remaining 108 per cent higher at the end of March 2017 at $ 92 a tonne, which can potentially dent the margins of the cement manufacturers, the companies in the sector continue to stick to petcoke imports rather than substitute the input material with Indian coal.Recently, in the coal linkage auction for the cement sector, Coal India, which conducted the linkage auction, faced disappointment with the results.Industry officials reasoned that the primary reason for the industry to stick to petcoke despite higher prices is the quality issue."Pet coke's quality is better as its heat value is 8,000 kilocalorie, while that of Indian coal is 3,500 kilocalorie on an average", Mahendra Singhi, CEO at Dalmia Bharat said.Industry officials cited that compared to petcoke, around 2.5-3 times more coal is needed to produce one tonne of cement.Normally, on an average, Coal India sells the linkages to the cement companies at Rs. 1,500-1,700 a tonne. However, transport cost and .
