It has been almost a year and the negative sentiments continues to haunt the Chinese Graphite electrodes and needle coke market. As per SteelMint research, the needle coke prices in the country have registered a fall of almost 63% in the time span of one year.
However, as per market sources, the needle coke prices have stabilised in past one month ahead of upcoming Chinese New Year Holidays starting from 24 January 2020. It is being understood that although the needle coke prices have stabilised, the future looks grim.
The situation of oversupply of the graphite electrode market is severe, and the quality of electrodes in some regions is uneven, making it difficult to distinguish. The high inventory of GE and weak price, has affected the enthusiasm of needle coke manufacturers. The new capacities of some needle coke enterprises are anticipated to be put into production after the new year holidays and in the short term, the market will remain under pressure.
The current price for oil-based and coal-based needle coke in China’s domestic market is in the range of RMB 10,000 – 12,000/MT (USD 1,450 – 1,730/MT). In case of imported needle coke price, the same is being offered at the rate of USD 3,500/MT from Philips66 and at USD 1,200 – 1,400/MT from PMC Korea.
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