Low-sulphur Petroleum Coke Under Weak Pressure, Needle Coke Maintenance Eases Downward Pressure [SMM Weekly Review of Anode Raw Material Market for Lithium Batteries]

SMM, June 12:

This week, the low-sulphur petroleum coke market remained stable, with an average market price of 3,525 yuan/mt, down 0.4% MoM. Cost side, prices of upstream raw materials were relatively stable. On the supply and demand side, market supply was relatively sufficient, while downstream demand struggled to improve. As a result, low-sulphur petroleum coke prices continued to decline under pressure this week. Looking ahead, with the ESS sector cancelling mandatory energy storage allocation and the auto show in the NEV market concluding, downstream demand is expected to continue to decline. The operating rate of anode producers is anticipated to decrease further. Therefore, it is expected that low-sulphur petroleum coke prices will remain in the doldrums in the near future.

Affected by the continued weakness in downstream demand and sufficient supply, the price of oil-based green needle coke fell by 2%. However, it is worth noting that some producers have gradually entered the shutdown and maintenance phase, which has, to a certain extent, slowed down the rate of price decline. Looking ahead, the capacity of oil-based green needle coke undergoing shutdown and maintenance is expected to increase, and the oversupply market environment will improve. However, considering that the inventory reserves of enterprises in the early stage may delay the contraction of supply, market supply is likely to remain sufficient. Therefore, it is expected that prices will mainly refuse to budge on prices in the near future.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lv Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Xu Mengqi 021-20707868

Hu Xuejie 021-20707858