【SMM Analysis】Anode Raw Material Coke Prices Declined to Varying Degrees This Week

SMM April 24 News:

This week, the price of low-sulphur petroleum coke declined, down 2.2% WoW. Cost side, raw material prices remained stable. Supply side, the negative impact of tariffs limited the inflow of imported resources, while maintenance operations at domestic refineries directly led to a reduction in production scale, resulting in a tight supply situation in the petroleum coke market. Demand side, the escalating tariffs significantly increased import costs, forcing downstream companies to cut procurement or slow down expansion to maintain profit margins. Under the combined effect of supply-demand and cost factors, the price of low-sulphur petroleum coke experienced a slight decline this week. Looking ahead, with the lack of growth momentum on the demand side and limited supply, the petroleum coke market is unlikely to form a clear price increase or decrease driver, and prices may fluctuate slightly within the existing range, with no breakthrough changes expected in the short term.

This week, the average market price of oil-based green needle coke was 5,975 yuan/mt, down 4% WoW. Cost side, compared to last week, raw material prices remained stable this week, with no significant impact on market prices. Demand side, the continued pressure from tariff barriers led to a cautious attitude among market participants, with increasing wait-and-see sentiment, resulting in a weak demand side. Supply side, supply remained at high levels. In contrast to the sluggish downstream demand, the market showed a clear oversupply situation. In summary, as the imbalance of oversupply is difficult to effectively alleviate in the short term, the price of needle coke was dominated by the supply-demand relationship this week, showing a slight downward trend. It is expected that market supply will remain abundant in the near future. Therefore, the price of oil-based green needle coke is expected to continue to show a 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