ICC: This month, the needle coke market operated strongly. The prices of domestic enterprises generally increased by about 500 yuan at the beginning of this month. The high level in the second half of this month maintained stability. At the beginning of this month, there were manufacturers in Ningxia and Henan for maintenance. At the end of this month, Henan manufacturers completed the maintenance and resumed work as planned. The new 100000 t / a needle coke project of Shandong Hengxin New Material Co., Ltd. started smoothly as planned in late this month. Henan Shoucheng Technology Co., Ltd. resumed work for the first time this year. The shipment of each manufacturer was relatively smooth. At the end of the month, the purchasing sentiment of the cathode material factory changed from high to low, and the graphite electrode factory maintained a relatively stable purchasing status for needle coke in May. As of the end of the month, coal based needle coke was 12500-14000 yuan / ton, oil-based needle coke was 13800-15500 yuan / ton, and coal and oil-based raw coke was 9500-11500 yuan / ton. In terms of import price, the price of coal based needle coke is USD 1900-2000 / ton in Japan and USD 1850-1950 / ton in South Korea; In terms of oil-based needle coke, the price of Japan is 2800-3200 US dollars / ton, the UK is 2200-2400 US dollars / ton, and the price of anode coke is 1200-1600 US dollars / ton. In terms of export, the export quotation of oil needle coke in May has been increased by 10% to USD 2300-2400 / ton (including VAT). At the end of the month, the price of low sulfur petroleum coke fell, and the market was in a strong wait-and-see mood. Needle coke manufacturers also said that the anode material factories were cautious in purchasing at present. In terms of cost, the coal tar pitch and oil slurry prices were in a high consolidation state in May. At the end of the month, the coal tar pitch price was relatively high to maintain stability, while the oil slurry price was pushed up at the end of the month, and the cost pressure of oil-based needle coke enterprises continued to increase.
On the downstream side, the graphite electrode market had a good start at the beginning of this month, with a price increase of 1500-2000 yuan / ton. The graphite electrode market has remained stable in the future. As of the end of this month, the mainstream quotation of uhp600mm specification has remained at 29000-30000 yuan / ton. At present, all manufacturers are mainly stable, but the steel market has not significantly improved. Some early maintenance manufacturers resume production, and their demand for graphite electrodes has increased slightly. However, June will usher in the traditional high-temperature off-season in the steel market, It still takes time to repair the confidence of the steel market. It is expected that the graphite electrode will not significantly improve its demand for needle coke. In terms of negative electrode materials, the market performance of anode materials in this month was acceptable, and the output of anode materials in this month was basically the same as that in April. In the first and middle of May, various anode material manufacturers were more active in purchasing downstream needle coke. However, in late May, various factories purchased sufficient raw materials in the early stage. Now, they are suddenly cautious in purchasing raw materials, and mainly replenish needle coke on demand.
Overall, at the end of the month, anode material manufacturers were cautious in purchasing needle coke, and graphite electrode manufacturers' demand for needle coke did not change significantly. However, needle coke raw material prices remained high, providing strong support for needle coke. It is expected that needle coke manufacturers will focus on stabilizing prices in June.
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