OREANDA-NEWS. June 20, 2016. To the surprise of many market participants, the petcoke route from Houston, Texas to Krishnapatnam, East Coast India, basis 50,000 mt, continued to employ shipowners in the US Gulf Coast.

While in early April shipowners began to head to the South Atlantic ahead of East Coast South America's upcoming grain export season, those that stayed in the North Atlantic benefitted from a slimmer tonnage count and persistent Indian inquiry for petcoke.

As a result, the freight on the Houston-to-Krishnapatnam 50,000 mt petcoke route gradually rose from a level of \\$16.50/mt on March 1, 2016, to \\$23/mt by April 28, where it stayed until May 11.

Dipping just under the \\$23/mt mark between May 12-23 on the back of a brief period of lackluster trade across the Atlantic, the freight rate on this key petcoke route then climbed to \\$24/mt by May 24, before hitting the \\$24.50/mt mark on May 31.

According to shipping sources, India's continuous appetite for ex-US Gulf petcoke has been due to a lack of available stems in other exporting markets, such as Saudi Arabia.

Also, some Indian petcoke producers have halted production due to water supply issues in parts of India caused by a recent draught.

While a number of shipowners positioned in other areas of the Atlantic, such as West Africa, Gibraltar and North Coast South America, took the decision to ballast to the US Gulf to take advantage of its ongoing offer of petcoke stems, demand has been solid enough to keep the tonnage count in the US Gulf in check.

Traditionally, the monsoon season, which roughly starts in June and ends in September, sees a slowdown in Indian petcoke demand.

However, ports such as Kandla in West Coast India, and Krishnapatnam in the east coast, are sheltered ports, which can also handles shipments during the wet season.