Tight Short-Term Supply of Petroleum Coke Pushes Up Market Prices

Output of oil refining products has dropped sharply recently. This directly leads to tight short-term supply of petroleum coke in the domestic market.

The affected products mainly include medium-sulfur coke with 1.8% sulfur content and regular high-sulfur petroleum coke with roughly 4% sulfur content. Overseas sources indicate the supply shortage of regular high-sulfur petroleum coke is particularly obvious.

The domestic market responded quickly. Domestic 3A petroleum coke and 4A regular petroleum coke became key alternatives to fill part of the supply gap.

However, supply recovery will take time. According to the latest production schedules, Omsk Refinery will gradually resume production by late July. The restart of Tatar Refinery has been postponed to early September. This time gap further strengthens market expectations of tight supply in the short run.

Restrained supply, combined with demand and market sentiment, accelerates price gains. Currently, domestic carbon manufacturers stick to rigid purchasing to maintain normal production.

Market sentiment keeps warming up. Port spot petroleum coke is shipped out much faster. Buyers actively send inquiries. Transaction prices have risen by 20–50 yuan per tonne compared with early this month.

Meanwhile, port traders are generally reluctant to sell. Some high-quality cargoes have been pre-locked by downstream calcination manufacturers. This further lifts prices of domestic regular high-sulfur petroleum coke.

Data shows its price has increased by around 110 yuan per tonne since early July, representing a 5% growth.

Bullish sentiment remains strong for the petroleum coke market outlook. On one hand, active procurement from anode auxiliary material sectors provides solid demand support for regular high-sulfur petroleum coke.

On the other hand, the delayed restart of Tatar Refinery points to lower arrivals of this grade petroleum coke in the future. Most market participants expect another 50–100 yuan per tonne upside for this product.

The shortage and price rise of imported materials will also push up prices of similar domestic coke products from refineries. In the short term, the petroleum coke market will fluctuate at high levels. Prices tend to rise easily yet resist declines.