SMM News March 8:
Anode material prices fell slightly this week. In terms of costs, low-sulfur petroleum coke prices remained fluctuating. Some refineries of CNPC in Northeast China raised coke prices, while some refineries of CNOOC saw price declines, but the overall increase and decrease were relatively small. Prices of needle coke for oil-based anode material production were temporarily stable. Although some coke plants will undergo maintenance, as market demand is relatively low and most coke plants have prepared stocks in advance, the changes in supply are small, having limited impact on prices. It is expected that prices will remain weakly stable in the future. Currently, there are few graphitization outsourcing orders in the market with low prices, putting great survival pressure on graphitization outsourcing plants. In terms of demand, as we entered March, production from downstream cell and end-user customers increased, boosting demand for anode materials. However, due to the impact of price wars in the end market, downstream customers continued to put pressure on anode material manufacturers for lower prices. Coupled with overcapacity in the market, competition within the industry remains intense, making it difficult for anode material prices to rebound. It is expected that prices may continue to fall in the future.