【Low sulfur petroleum coke】Downstream demand will improve as the market recovers briefly

1. Low sulfur petroleum coke market experienced a brief recovery, but due to a lack of support, prices have fallen again since March

Daqing Petrochemical and Fushun Petrochemical lowered the price of low sulfur petroleum coke by 400 yuan/ton to 4900 yuan/ton and 5400 yuan/ton, respectively. After the Spring Festival, market prices experienced a brief rebound, but have been fluctuating and falling since March.

Since the cancellation of price guarantee policies by major refineries on Feb 1, low sulfur coke price has experienced a series of increases, with a slight increase to 5000 to 6100 yuan/ton.

Downstream terminal demand has not yet fully recovered. Negative electrode material manufacturers are cautious in purchasing low sulfur coke raw materials, and a large amount of imported low sulfur coke is concentrated in ports. In addition, the normal operation and production of China's local refineries, leading to an oversupply of the entire market, due to the loss of short demand support, prices fell again, ranging from 40-700 yuan/ton to 3570-5400 yuan/ton.

2. Negative electrode market expands rapidly and gradually becomes surplus, low sulfur petroleum coke price drops from a high level

With the development of the new energy market, negative electrode materials market demand continues to increase, which has an impact on the raw material low sulfur coke price. Since 2020, the low sulfur petroleum coke price has been rising from the initial 1140-1750 yuan/ton.

2021-2022 is a period of rapid development of the new energy industry and the negative electrode material market. Low sulfur petroleum coke also rose to the highest level in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2022, especially the 1 # A low sulfur petroleum coke price of Daqing Petrochemical and Fushun Petrochemical as high as 9,000 yuan/ton. Due to the continuous expansion of negative electrode materials, new capacity has been over-released, resulting in a trend of overcapacity in the 2nd half of 2022. Since the 4th quarter, overcapacity has gradually emerged. The release rate of new production capacity of negative electrode material enterprises has slowed down, and the demand for low sulfur coke has gradually decreased, resulting in a corresponding decline in low sulfur coke prices.

3. Downstream demand recovery is just around the corner, and low sulfur petroleum coke market is still favorable expectations

The terminal market overall demand is still recovering slowly, and the negative electrode market is expected to show signs of recovery by the end of March. The overall new energy market is expected to improve slightly after April.

The graphite electrode market is slowly recovering after the holiday. Although there is overall willingness to push up, the downstream steel mills have not reduced their pressure on prices, resulting in significant upward resistance. The overall market is in the process of slow recovery.

After the holiday, the graphite electrode market is slowly recovering. Despite the overall market's willingness to push up prices, the price pressure on downstream steel plants has not eased, with significant upward resistance. The entire market is in the process of slow recovery. For more information on petroleum coke and graphite electrode market, feel free to contact us.