Needle coke sales pressure partially eases underpinned by anode materials market: monthly report

ICC News: Needle coke market price overall kept stable, and situation varied from one to another at major enterprises in May.
Specifically, Kaifeng Carbon Anshan Thermo-Energy New Materials resumed coal needle coke production in May, largely of green coke targeting anode material market; the sales were 1,200-2,000 tons per monthly, and monthly output kept at 3,000-4,000 tons.
Jinzhou Petrochemical was scheduled for maintenance in June; right now, its prevailing prices remain at 3600-3800 yuan/ton and it has over 1,000 tons of stocks by the end of May. Shanghai Baosteel Chemical's coal needle coke production was suspended for maintenance in May; according to the head of the company, it plans to restore production in June; it now has around 1500 tons of stocks and the market price is 3400 yuan/ton.
On the import side, April's import volume of coal needle coke was 1,654 tons and the import price was $500 per ton; that of petroleum needle coke was 1,629 tons and the price was $550-650 per ton.
On the downstream carbon market, there wasn't distinct change in sales and price on May's graphite electrode market. The majority of enterprises kept in normal production state. This month, downstream sector was doing better than before in terms of making payment, although graphite electrode firms mostly still manage production based on the intake of orders at present.
By the end of May, prevailing prices for domestic 300-600 mm graphite electrode are as follows: HP products are 9,000-11,000 yuan/ton, and UHP products are 12,000-16,000 yuan/ton.
Moreover, China Carbon Industry Association's statistics show during Jan.-Apr. of 2016, RP graphite electrode production output was 43,962 tons, down 14.62 percent year on year; that of HP graphite electrode was 59,706 tons, a drop of 15.29 percent from a year earlier; and UHP graphite electrode was 38,240 tons, down 43.4 percent year on year.