[SMM Analysis] Supply and Demand Show Growth Trend; Anode Material Prices Continued to Rise This Week

SMM March 13 News:

This week, anode material prices continued their upward trend. Supply and demand side, the market gradually overcame the impact of the off-season, with both supply and demand showing growth. Cost side, low-sulphur petroleum coke prices declined recently due to weakened demand for anodes; needle coke prices had previously increased, leading anode material companies to adopt a more conservative purchasing approach and implement price suppression strategies. However, as needle coke prices have been fluctuating at low levels for a long time, some needle coke manufacturers saw a pullback in prices this week, though the extent was limited. Graphitisation electricity costs remained high, leaving narrow profit margins and generating sentiment for price increases. Against the backdrop of a rebound in March demand, Acheson furnace graphitisation outsourcing prices rose, but due to sufficient market supply, significant price hikes were difficult. For box furnaces, as most integrated production lines of anode companies use box furnaces, the demand for outsourcing box furnace services showed little improvement, and prices remained relatively stagnant.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Cong Wang 021-51666838

Xiaodan Yu 021-20707870

Rui Ma 021-51595780

Disheng Feng 021-51666714

Yujun Liu 021-20707895

Yanlin Lü 021-20707875

Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711

Haohan Zhang 021-51666752

Zihan Wang 021-51666914

Xiaoxuan Ren 021-20707866

Jie Wang 021-51595902

Yang Xu 021-51666760

Mengqi Xu 021-20707868