March has arrived—will domestic petroleum coke resources still be tight?
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Industry News
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Release time:
2025/11/17
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As the impact of the Winter Olympics on the domestic petroleum coke market gradually fades, both upstream and downstream sectors have now begun to resume production one after another. However, starting this month, the number of maintenance shutdowns at domestic delayed coking units has been increasing. So, how will the domestic petroleum coke market change as a result?
As the impact of the Winter Olympics on the domestic petroleum coke market gradually fades, both upstream and downstream sectors have now begun to resume production one after another. However, starting this month, the number of maintenance shutdowns at domestic delayed coking units has been increasing. So, how will the domestic petroleum coke market change as a result?
Trend Chart of Capacity Utilization Rate for China’s Delayed Coking Units
As of March 3, the capacity utilization rate of delayed coking units in China stood at 66.87%, an increase of 2.7% compared to mid-February. With the end of production restrictions related to the Winter Olympics, delayed coking units at Zhonghai Asphalt, Wantong Petrochemical, and YouTai Petrochemical in Shandong Province have gradually resumed operations and are now back to normal production levels. Additionally, local refineries such as Xintai Petrochemical, Wanda Tianhong, and United Petrochemical in Shandong have also seen a recovery in their petroleum coke production. However, starting in February, the old plant at Dongming Petrochemical began a full-scale overhaul, resulting in the shutdown of its 1-million-ton-per-year delayed coking unit. Meanwhile, Lanzhou Petrochemical’s 1.2-million-ton-per-year delayed coking unit underwent a minor maintenance check. At the beginning of March, Lanqiao Petrochemical started producing petroleum asphalt, but its 1.3-million-ton-per-year delayed coking unit entered maintenance, with an expected maintenance period of around three months. Consequently, this company will no longer produce petroleum coke in the near term. To date, the impact of these plant overhauls and shutdowns has reduced petroleum coke production by approximately 2,550 tons per day.
Starting in March, the peak season for maintenance of delayed coking units in China is approaching. It is expected that more than 6.4 million tons per year of delayed coking capacity will remain offline for maintenance before the end of March, and the capacity utilization rate of domestic delayed coking units will continue to decline. The supply of domestically produced petroleum coke is set to decrease further.
March 2022 Classification of China's Imported Petroleum Coke
As of the latest data available, the volume of petroleum coke imported into ports in March is expected to exceed 1 million tons, with pellet coke accounting for 59% and sponge coke accounting for 41%. Current data indicate that the projected import volume of sponge coke will fall short of 500,000 tons, and most of this sponge coke will be medium- to high-sulfur petroleum coke.
Starting February 20, carbon enterprises in northern China that had previously been subject to production restrictions and shutdowns—totaling an annual capacity of 13 million tons—have gradually resumed operations. Although production has not yet fully recovered, downstream carbon enterprises have already begun to stock up on materials. From the perspective of overall supply-and-demand dynamics, in the short term, the domestic supply of petroleum coke remains relatively tight, and there continues to be a mismatch between supply and demand. This situation provides some support for domestic petroleum coke prices, making it unwise to adopt a bearish outlook on the market in the near term.
Keywords:
Jiasheng
Carbon
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