At least four cargoes of Venezuelan petroleum coke have recently been offered to buyers in the Turkish market, as Turkey appears to be a more receptive destination for this coke than many other locations.
A cargo of coke from Venezuela's state-owned oil company PdV on the handysize [Daytona Beach](https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2206220) is now signaling Iskenderun, Turkey, as its destination on vessel tracking software after originally heading to Gijon, Spain. Buyers in Spain showed no interest in the cargo as the US has put pressure on international trading firms to avoid doing business with PdV, which the US has sanctioned.
But at least one other Venezuelan cargo has already landed in Turkey. The Gloria M loaded at the Jose port on 23 February and unloaded in southeastern Turkey in late March.
The Maria L and the Diligent have also loaded in the last two weeks, and are both headed to Turkey, according to sources. The Maria L was originally headed to Spain, marketed by the same European-based trading firm as the Daytona Beach, sources said. It was not immediately clear what company is marketing the Gloria M and Diligent.
Washington has a broad, opaque policy of preventing exports of nearly all energy commodities from Venezuela. Although some countries like Spain may not have their own sanctions on PdV, Spanish companies that have operations in the US or close ties with US companies are concerned about potential repercussions of raising a red flag with the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). But the Turkish government has a relatively more favourable diplomatic relationship with Venezuela than EU countries, even having at one point established a diplomatic energy agreement between its state oil company Turkish Petroleum International and PdV. This may make it seem to be a more favourable destination for sellers.
Venezuela's 4.5pc sulphur coke had for years been a staple of cement makers in the Mediterranean region, particularly Turkey. Turkey imported more than 900,000t/yr of Venezuelan coke on average between 2005 and 2015, according to Global Trade Tracker, but its purchases have declined since the middle of the past decade as the Latin American country's infrastructure crumbled.
But after the US sanctions were imposed in January 2019, this decline accelerated sharply. Turkey imported only 30,150t of Venezuelan coke in 2019, a 91pc drop from 350,000t a year earlier, according to Turkish statistics agency Tuik. And no Venezuelan coke has arrived since November 2019, according to the agency. But data is only available through February, and the Gloria M was recorded to have arrived in March.
It remains to be seen whether these cargoes will draw any interest from buyers within Turkey, as some cement plants said they would not consider purchases of Venezuelan coke regardless of its price, as the US is a key export market for Turkish cement producers.
Turkey may be the only destination that Venezuelan coke has reached this year, as most of Venezuela's coke loading operations are not functioning. Of the country's four coke loading terminals, only the Jose port's Petrocedeno and Petro San Felix are currently operating, and the latter has focused on sulphur exports since it was repaired in January. It may start to load petroleum coke in June or July, one source said. Coke loading operations at Punta Cardon are expected to resume in the next few weeks, as the port has been out of order since last year. But the Amuay terminal has not been operating since 2018, with no estimate available of when repairs may be completed.
Venezuelan coke has also been offered to India and China, according to traders. There have been recent freight inquiries for vessels from Venezuela to these countries, as well as South Korea, Ecuador and Peru, Tunisia, and Cuba. But these inquiries may only suggest that sellers were considering these locations as potential destinations. Turkey so far appears to be the preferred destination for Venezuelan coke in 2021.
