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India Mineral-Oil (HSN Ch.27) Trade × Pricing Dashboard

India Mineral-Oil Trade × Pricing Dashboard

HSN Chapter 27 (Mineral fuels & oils) import/export evaluated product-wise against the price benchmarks that drive Indian pricing — and mapped to OilPrice API coverage. Trade in US$; FY2018-19 → 2025-26.
Trade: DGCI&S / TRADESTAT (HSN 2-digit) Product split & prices: PPAC Ready Reckoner Pricing formula: Rangarajan 2006 · Expert Group 2013 · TERI Gas: Kirit Parikh 2023 ✓ Consistency checks 20/20 passed
$203.4B
Ch.27 imports FY25-26 (26.2% of all imports)
$55.9B
Ch.27 exports FY25-26
121.1 MMT
Crude imported (FY25-26 H1)
4 / 11
POL items with an OilPrice benchmark (2 partial, 5 none)
80 : 20
Trade Parity Price = IPP : EPP weight

🟢 Live EIA spot benchmark

Pulled live from the EIA API with your key — replaces the dead OilPrice feed. US Gulf Coast + crude benchmarks; directional proxy, not India FOB / Platts AG.

1 · HSN Chapter 27 — the mineral-oil trade balance

Exports vs imports (US$ Billion)

Chapter 27 is India's single largest import chapter and a major export earner. Structural net importer.

Chapter 27 share of total imports

Share tracks the crude price cycle — peaks in FY22-23 (oil spike), eases as prices soften.

2 · Product-level POL trade (PPAC) — where petrol, diesel, LPG & lube sit

Import vs export value by product

India imports crude & LPG (deficit products) and exports refined petrol/diesel/naphtha/ATF — the classic refining-hub pattern. Pick a year.
Import value US$BExport value US$B

3 · Trade values vs price benchmark — the bridge

Crude: realized import unit-value vs Indian basket

Implied $/bbl from trade value÷quantity tracks the Indian basket within ±6% every year — the core consistency check.

Product unit values (US$/tonne)

Import vs export realized unit value. Divergence = grade/quality & timing vs the Platts benchmark. Pick a product.

4 · The pricing formula — how commodities set Indian prices

Refinery Gate Price of sensitive products (MS, HSD), since 2006:
TPP = 0.80 × IPP + 0.20 × EPP
TermDefinition
IPPFOB price + Ocean freight + Insurance + Customs duty + Port charges (what an importer pays at an Indian port)
EPPFOB price + Advance-license benefit + … (≈ FOB export realisation)
RetailRGP/RTP + Inland freight & delivery + Marketing cost & margin + Dealer commission + Excise + VAT
FOB = daily Platts (Argus for kero) Arab-Gulf product quotes, prior-fortnight/month average + premium.
ProductBenchmark commodity that sets the price
CrudeIndian basket — 78.71% Oman+Dubai (sour) + 21.29% Brent
Petrol (MS)FOB Gasoline Arab Gulf / Singapore (Platts)
Diesel (HSD)FOB Gasoil 0.05%S Arab Gulf (Platts)
ATF / KeroseneFOB Jet/Kero Arab Gulf (Platts/Argus)
LPGSaudi Aramco CP — Butane 60% + Propane 40% + Platts Gaswire premium
Fuel OilFOB Fuel Oil 180/380 cSt Arab Gulf/Singapore (Platts)
Worked examples from your PDFs (price build-up). PDS Kerosene, Mumbai (Mar-16): FOB AG Jet/Kero $40.26/bbl → IPP ₹18.10/L → total cost ₹20.13/L → RSP ₹15.24/L (under-recovery ₹6.58/L).  ·  Domestic LPG, Delhi (Mar-16): FOB AG LPG $305.95/MT → IPP ₹326.40/cyl → market ₹513.50/cyl → subsidised effective ₹419.13/cyl.  ·  Gas (Kirit Parikh 2023): APM gas sloped to the same Indian crude basket, floor $4 / ceiling $6.5 per MMBtu (+$0.5/yr), difficult fields cap $12.46 — one crude commodity anchors crude, LPG, MS, HSD and gas.

5 · HSN item → India benchmark → OilPrice API coverage

Which mineral-oil lines the OilPrice API can actually price

The API (this plan) has crude, gasoline, diesel, jet & marine fuels — but no LPG, naphtha, base-oil/lube, bitumen or petcoke, and no history (spot only). So it proxies ~half the complex; the Platts/Saudi-CP benchmarks in column 3 are the real anchors.
ProductHSNIndia pricing benchmarkOilPrice proxyCoverage

7 · Commodity-import pricing checklist (India, current rules)

How to price a commodity import into India — step by step

The landed-cost stack a trader must build before quoting. Duty rates change by notification — verify on CBIC/ICEGATE before costing a real cargo.
StepWhat to do
Worked duty stack — Base oil (HSN 2710 1971), CIF ₹100
BCD 5% = ₹5.00  ·  AIDC 5% on BCD = ₹0.25  ·  SWS 10% on (BCD+AIDC) = ₹0.53  ·  IGST 18% on (CIF+duties) = ₹19.04  →  Effective 24.81%.  FTA origin: Japan 0% BCD · UAE 2% · Australia 1% → materially lower.
GST split matters. Base oil, LPG, lubricants, naphtha, bitumen, petcoke sit inside GST (IGST 18% on import). Crude, petrol, diesel, ATF & natural gas are outside GST — Central Excise + State VAT/CST apply instead, and their refinery-gate price is set by the Trade Parity formula, not a simple duty add-on.

8 · Segment picker — where the import/export margin is

Profitable segments (PPAC FY2024-25 values + TRADESTAT orientation)

India's refining-hub signature: export refined MS/HSD/ATF/naphtha; import crude, LPG, base oil, petcoke, bitumen. The value-add play is importing base oil to export finished lubricants.
SegmentExport $BImport $BOrientationTrader verdictKey risk
Export-surplus segments = sell India's refined output Import-deficit segments = source/distribute or import-substitute

10 · Country-wise mineral-oil trade (top partners)

Chapter 27 by partner — imports vs exports (US$B)

Russia dominates the import bill (discounted crude); UAE & USA are two-way; China is where India sells refined product. FY2025-26.

What each relationship is

PartnerImport $BExport $BRole in the mineral-oil trade

11 · Opportunity — UCO import → SAF export to the UK

The value-add feedstock arbitrage

Not plain UCO import for domestic use (India is a discount market) — the margin is in converting feedstock to certified SAF for the UK/EU mandate premium.
UK SAF Mandate
Price signal
The play
What has to hold
Verdict.

12 · Net-export commodities → where to sell them

India's petroleum-product export destinations

Europe leads (Netherlands ≈25% of the total); Africa is now the largest & fastest-growing regional buyer. US$B, Apr-2023→Jan-2024.

Net-export products & target markets

The four products where India is structurally long — and the countries the surplus can move to.
ProductNet $BBest targets

Target-country detail

Product (HSN)Where it can goRead

13 · Export margin ranking (implied crack over crude, 8-digit HS)

Margin per tonne — export unit value − crude cost (FY25-26)

Computed from your 8-digit TRADESTAT value + quantity files (crude ≈$519/t). Bar = crack $/t; ATF & specialty oils out-margin diesel per tonne, but diesel's volume wins the pool.

Ranked table — margin quality & total pool

Per-tonne crack = margin quality; pool ($/t × volume) = total earnings. Ranked by crack/tonne.
#HS-8 / lineCrack $/t%Pool $M

14 · Trader destination playbook — buy ex-refinery, sell abroad

Where each product fetches the best netback

Buy (product)Best sell-to destinationsWhy / howAvoid / watch
Shortlist.

15 · Trade opportunity matrix — both directions, by Indian port

Good trades: export India's surplus & source India's deficit

EXPORT direction (sell surplus — refining margin)IMPORT direction (source deficit — volume)
Export · product (HS)SizeSell toIndian portsTrade angleRisk
Import · product (HS)SizeSource fromIndian portsTrade angleRisk

16 · Movement & margin-realisation check (2025-26 market data)

Are the high-margin products actually moving to these destinations?

DestinationFlowRecent movement (confirmed)

Realised margin vs the estimate

ProductDashboard estimateRecent market (2025-26)Verdict

17 · 8-digit HS net-trade leaders (verified TRADESTAT)

Top net-EXPORT lines (US$M, FY25-26)

Straight from the TRADESTAT EIDB 8-digit workbook. Diesel, petrol & ATF dominate. 8-digit Ch.27 sums reconcile to the 2-digit totals at 0.00%.
HS-8CommodityNet $MExp growth

Top net-IMPORT lines (US$M, FY25-26)

Crude ($134.7B) dwarfs all; then LNG, coal, LPG (propane+butane ≈$13B) and base oil ($2.6B — matches PPAC).
HS-8CommodityNet $M

18 · Beyond petroleum — high-value export segments & import-vs-export price

Other high-value export segments (TRADESTAT 8-digit)

SegmentExport $MNet $MUnit valueGrowthRead

Value-add: export price > import price

Buy the cheaper input grade, export the higher-value good. Ratio = export unit price ÷ import unit price.
HS · goodImp/uExp/u×Read

Import-premium: import price > export price

India imports the dear/branded grade, exports the commodity — not a value-add export.
HS · goodImp/uExp/u×Read
Verdict.

19 · Online trade ideas — validated against the data

Cross-checking published export/import-substitution ideas vs TRADESTAT 8-digit

Ideas from DHL/TradeBrains/FIEO (exports) & the govt 500-item import-substitution list, each tested against actual FY25-26 net trade. Some confirm, some get debunked.
DirectionIdeaExp $MImp $MNet $MGrw%Verdict

20 · Import-substitution target list (all sectors)

By sector — substitutable net import (US$M, FY25-26)

All net-import sectors India could substitute or supply into (crude/gold/coal excluded as structural). Trader column = commodity you can physically source vs a manufacturing build.
SectorNet import $MTrader-tradeable?

Structural (not substitutable — India lacks the resource)

Biggest deficits that import-substitution can't fix — for context.
HS · goodNet import $M

Top 40 import-substitution targets — 8-digit lines

Ranked by net import. Category tags the play: chemical/commodity & agri/raw & metal/scrap = physically tradeable (supply into India); hi-tech/mfg = domestic-manufacturing/PLI play.
HSProductNet import $MImp growthCategory

21 · Data consistency log

CheckResultDetail
Sources. Trade: DGCI&S / TRADESTAT commodity-wise export & import (HSN 2-digit, US$M), india-trade-data-analysis. Product split, crude basket & realized $/bbl: PPAC Ready Reckoner FY2025-26 H1, ppac-ready-reckoner-data. Pricing methodology: Rangarajan Committee (Feb 2006), Expert Group on Pricing (Oct 2013), TERI "Petroleum pricing in India", PPAC price build-ups. Gas: Kirit Parikh Committee (2023).

Caveats. (1) HSN data is 2-digit — Chapter 27 aggregates coal/LNG/electricity alongside petroleum, so the product split comes from PPAC, not the HSN file. (2) The OilPrice API on this plan returns no historical series (tested: Brent 1-yr & 1-mo both denied) and live spot was down during this build — the historical price backbone here is the repo/PPAC data; OilPrice can add only a current spot anchor once reachable. (3) OilPrice benchmarks are global proxies, not the exact Platts FOB-Arab-Gulf assessments used in Indian pricing. (4) FY2025-26 provisional; H1 columns are half-year.

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