Last week (Jan. 28 – Feb. 3), the benchmark price for prebaked anodes was adjusted. A major aluminum plant in Shandong lowered the benchmark purchase price for prebaked anodes for February 2023 by 660 yuan/ton month-on-month. The spot price is now 5,920 yuan/ton, and the accepted-bill price is 5,955 yuan/ton. The prices for prebaked anodes are as follows: East China—5,920–9,240 yuan/ton; Northwest China—6,370–6,740 yuan/ton.

Last week marked the first week following the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival period, petroleum coke enterprises operated normally and continued sales, leading to an overall rise in prices. However, as of last Thursday, petroleum coke prices began to stall and decline. Among mainstream refineries, CNOOC’s low-sulfur refinery, CNOOC Asphalt, held an auction this week, quoting a price of 5,000 yuan per ton—a level unchanged from the price just before the Spring Festival. Meanwhile, CNOOC’s other low-sulfur refinery, CNOOC Taizhou, held an auction this week, quoting a price of 4,950 yuan per ton, up 400 yuan per ton from the pre-Spring-Festival price.

Regarding modified asphalt, the price of raw coal tar fell before the Chinese New Year, weakening the cost support for coal pitch. As a result, prices also declined accordingly. However, after the Spring Festival, inquiries in the coal pitch market increased, and traders became more active in entering the market, causing coal pitch prices to rebound and rise. Going forward, it will be crucial to closely monitor the status of new transactions for raw coal tar.

Data show that in December 2022, China exported 148,800 tons of prebaked anodes, up 10.66% month-on-month but down 37.75% year-on-year. The value of prebaked anode exports in December reached 190 million U.S. dollars, with an average export price of 1,283.05 U.S. dollars per ton. For the full year 2022, total exports amounted to 1.9838 million tons, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.43%.

During the Spring Festival, raw petroleum coke provided relatively strong support, but this support was short-lived and could not offset the downward trend in the benchmark price of prebaked anodes for February. With the release of 2022 full-year customs data, exports of prebaked anodes increased year-on-year, reflecting robust overseas demand. However, as 2023 began and major export companies signed new rounds of orders, initial feedback indicates that the export outlook is far from optimistic. The primary reason is the declining demand for domestic prebaked anodes from Europe, Canada, and the Middle East. Consequently, most prebaked anode manufacturers are shifting their focus from external to domestic markets. It is estimated that prebaked anode exports will decline by 2% to 10% in 2023.

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