Needle Coke Industry Development Trend

Needle coke industry development is closely related to the anode materials and graphite electrode industry. 

1) Anode materials market demand analysis

As the main raw material of lithium battery anode material, artificial graphite accounts for 83%. Petroleum coke, pitch coke and needle coke are the main raw materials of artificial graphite, of which needle coke is used for high-performance products, while petroleum coke and pitch coke with lower price are generally used for preparing other products.

2) Negative coke market demand analysis

The needle coke used to produce anode materials is called negative coke, which is mostly the pre-calcined coke (raw coke) and a small amount of post-calcined coke (calcined coke). With the rapid development of anode material market, negative coke has gradually become the mainstream of the market.

3) Electrode coke market demand analysis

Needle coke used to produce graphite electrode is called electrode coke. Electrode coke is calcined coke, which is mainly used for high power and ultra-high power graphite electrodes. Under the significant background of "Carbon neutrality and Emission peak", it is necessary to optimize the process structure and increase the proportion of EAF (electric arc furnace) steel. Compared with the long process of steel making, the short process of EAF reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.6 tons/ton of steel. The EAF steel development prospect is broad, which will promote the increase of electrode coke demand.

4) High performance, customization and integration will become needle coke industry development trend

At present, China's needle coke industry is in a development period. On the one hand, the low-end products have overcapacity, market supply exceeds demand and operation rate is low. On the other hand, there is a shortage of products with high technology content and high added value. In the high-end product market, foreign enterprises still occupy a large advantage. Therefore, the contradiction between the doubling of production capacity and the shortage of raw materials in the market will still exist for some time.

Although there are many needle coke manufacturers in China, the industrial concentration is low, the production level of enterprises in the upstream and middle of the industrial chain is insufficient, and the problem of insufficient capacity is obvious. Therefore, in the long run, needle coke enterprises must strengthen technology research and development, expand integrated production scale, form large-scale development in the high-end needle coke product field, and promote the continuous improvement of industry concentration, which will promote the gradual increase of large enterprises in the needle coke industry, and the pattern will be more stable.

With the continuous development of the technical level of China's needle coke industry, the market share of the needle coke high-end products independently developed and produced by Chinese local enterprises is expected to gradually expand and the market competitiveness will gradually increase. From the perspective of downstream industry trends, in order to promote the steady development of high-end lithium anode materials and reduce production costs, anode material manufacturers will work more closely with upstream needle coke enterprises to develop customized large-capacity new products, and the development of EAF steel in China is also an inevitable trend. The number of new EAFs has increased steadily. Large-scale ultra-high power graphite electrode is still the mainstream, China's domestic needle coke enterprises can seize the opportunity to realize the replacement of imported nipple coke products. Welcome to contact us for the parameters and performance of needle coke and graphite electrode products.