Overseas Refinery Cuts and High Freight Rates Tighten Spot Coke Supply, Driving Up Costs and Slowing Imports

Published: Jun 26, 2026 18:38

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[SMM Aluminum Bulletin] Concentrated maintenance-driven production cuts at multiple overseas refineries and persistently rising ocean freight rates jointly tightened the supply of spot coke outside China significantly. This drove up external purchase costs for traders sharply and prompted domestic buyers to proactively slow down their procurement pace, directly causing a sharp pullback in May port arrivals and synchronous price spikes. At this stage, the maintenance cycle at major overseas refineries has yet to conclude, making the strong overseas spot market difficult to reverse in the short term. Import costs for China are likely to fluctuate at highs. SMM forecasts that petroleum coke port arrivals may see a slight recovery in June but will struggle to return to previous highs.

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