SHANGHAI, Aug 24 (SMM) - According to customs data, China imported 909,100 mt of petroleum coke in July, a month-on-month decrease of 31.8% or 423,800 mt and a year-on-year decrease of 6.07%. From January to July in 2022, the total import volume of petroleum coke reached 7,744,400 mt, up 222,200 mt year-on-year.
Specifically, the import volume of low-sulphur petroleum coke with sulphur content of less than 3% recorded 282,200 mt, acounting for 31% of the total imports. The main suppliers were the United States, the Russian Federation, and Colombia etc. The import of high-sulphur petroleum coke accounted for 69% and stood at 626,900 mt, mainly from the United States, Venezuela, Canada, etc.
Among the suppliers, petroleum coke imports from the United States still ranked first, accounting for 48% of total imports; imports from Venezuela were still dominated by high-sulphur petroleum coke, accounting for 11%; imports from Colombia accounted for 10%, with half high-sulphur and half low-sulphur.
As the domestic demand for petroleum coke subsided since May, the prices showed a downward trend, and the imports also declined month-on-month. According to the feedback from traders, current prices of domestic petroleum coke are lower than that of some overseas petroleum coke, and the daily throughput at ports stands at 2000-3000 mt, about 1/5 of the normal level. On the whole, domestic petroleum coke is cheap, so the overseas petroleum lacks price advantages. At the same time, there is a strong downstream demand for carbon used for aluminium production, which has contributed to a sharp drop in petroleum coke sales and the inversion of domestic and foreign prices. In this case, SMM expects that the import of petroleum coke will drop further in August. SMM will continue to track petroleum coke overseas prices and port inventories.
