Low sulfur petroleum coke remains high level, can it maintain the rise?

By the end of the first quarter of 2022, low sulfur petroleum coke price has been widely increased for four consecutive rounds. At present, the market transaction is 5900-7300 yuan/ton, an increase of about 24%. Graphite electrode is made of high quality petroleum coke materials. The current price is the highest since 2019, and the regular quality 1# petroleum coke exceeds the level in 2017. The market supply and demand pattern has entered a changing cycle, causing widespread concern in the market and downstream. 

The production capacity of low sulfur petroleum coke is about 8 million tons/year, accounting for about 5% of the domestic petroleum coke production capacity. The raw materials of low sulfur petroleum coke are mainly produced by domestic oil fields, with an output of 968,900 tons in 2021. By the end of the first quarter of 2022, the current output is 133,600 tons, and the processing capacity is expected to increase in March. It is estimated that the monthly output in March can recover to more than 75,000 tons, but the overall output is still limited.