Thin profits to extend closure of Henan prebaked anode mills post-CNY

SHANGHAI, Feb 14 (SMM) – As falling prices of prebaked anode eroded profits, suspended producers in the major production area of Zhengzhou, Henan province, said they had no plan to resume production as of Thursday February 14, an SMM survey found. 

Except for Songyue Carbon that was farther from the urban areas, carbon mills in Zhengzhou city were required to shut for winter rectification from November. The curbs were mostly slated to end on February 5. 

At the end of January, SMM reported that Shandong Weiqiao Group, one of the top alumina producers in China, lowered purchasing prices for prebaked anode by 140 yuan/mt for February after it cut prices by 130 yuan/mt for January. 

The decline brought its February's purchasing prices to 3,320 yuan/mt in cash and 3,355 yuan/mt on acceptance.