Refining catalysts: Trading
Why refiners test catalysts in their own units first
What this tab covers How it is bought and sold: buyers and sellers, price benchmarks and who publishes them, exchanges, contract types, traders, how Indian buyers price it, recent price points, and good sources to follow.Who buys, and where
- Refiners buy direct from suppliers on multi-year supply agreements after unit trials
- Indian refiners (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, Reliance, Nayara) tender for FCC and hydroprocessing catalyst
Who sells, and from where
- Grace, BASF and Ketjen sell FCC catalyst worldwide from US and European plants
- Topsoe, Axens, ART, Shell Catalysts and Technologies and Ketjen sell hydroprocessing catalysts
Price benchmarks
| Benchmark | Publisher | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| No published catalyst price benchmark | prices are confidential and performance-based |
Exchanges
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | not exchange-traded | Metal inputs (molybdenum, nickel, cobalt) have their own reference prices |
Contract types
- Multi-year FCC supply contracts with metal surcharges
- Reload tenders for hydroprocessing units
- Technology licences bundled with first catalyst fill
- Spent catalyst regeneration and metal reclamation contracts
Traders and distributors
- Not a traded market; spent-catalyst metal reclaimers act as buyers of spent material
How Indian buyers price it
- Tendered by refiners; landed cost is supplier price plus basic customs duty and GST
- No Indian benchmark price
Recent price points
| Date | Price | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | not published | supplier contracts |
Good sources to follow
Topsoe financial releasesfree research site · Topsoecatalyst and technology revenue, renewable fuels
Albemarle news releasesfree research site · AlbemarleKetjen results to 2025 and equity income after
Policy Risk supply map: FCC catalystsfree research site · policyrisk.comsupplier and country concentration (secondary)