SMM April 30 News:
This week, the low-sulphur petroleum coke market continued to be in the doldrums, with the average market price at 4,308 yuan/mt, down 3.7% MoM. Cost side, raw material prices remained relatively stable. Supply side, as domestic refineries have not yet completed maintenance shutdowns, the tight supply of domestic petroleum coke persisted. However, the arrival of imported coke has somewhat alleviated domestic supply pressure. Demand side, anode and cathode enterprises showed low purchasing enthusiasm. Therefore, under the fluctuation of the above supply-demand relationship, the price of low-sulphur petroleum coke experienced a slight decline this week. Looking ahead, as domestic refinery maintenance shutdowns gradually conclude, petroleum coke output is expected to steadily rebound, and market supply is likely to shift to a looser trend. However, facing the impact of tariffs, downstream demand may grow weakly. Thus, against the backdrop of supply-demand mismatch, petroleum coke prices are expected to continue a downward trend.
This week, the average market price of oil-based green needle coke was 5,900 yuan/mt, down 1.3% MoM. From the upstream of the industry chain, raw material prices remained generally stable, providing no significant support or impact on the price of oil-based green needle coke. Demand side, affected by adjustments in international trade policies, tariff pressures continued to transmit across all segments of the industry chain, leading to conservative purchasing decisions by upstream and downstream enterprises, with a strong market wait-and-see sentiment and a noticeable slowdown in purchasing activities. Supply side, the supply of oil-based green needle coke remained at high levels. In summary, under the contrast of persistently weak demand and high supply, the market showed an oversupply situation, directly driving a slight decline in the price of oil-based green needle coke this week. It is expected that in the near future, under the premise of stable existing production plans and capacity utilization rates, market supply will continue to remain ample. The uncertainty of international trade policies will still suppress the demand side. Therefore, the price of oil-based green needle coke is expected to continue its downward trend.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Cong Wang 021-51666838
Rui Ma 021-51595780
Disheng Feng 021-51666714
Yanlin Lyu 021-20707875
Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711
Haohan Zhang 021-51666752
Zihan Wang 021-51666914
Jie Wang 021-51595902
Yang Xu 021-51666760
Mengqi Xu 021-20707868
Xuejie Hu 021-20707858
