Both domestic and international demand are rising, and the use of petroleum coke for aluminum carbon products continues to increase.
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Industry News
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2025/11/17
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In recent years, domestic demand for petroleum coke used in aluminum carbon products has been increasing year by year, and the amount of petroleum coke produced by domestic refineries that is used in aluminum carbon products has also been rising steadily. Currently, apart from a small portion of low-sulfur coke being used in graphite electrodes, negative-electrode materials, and carbon-increasing agents; a tiny amount of medium-sulfur coke being employed as filler material for negative-electrode materials; and some high-sulfur coke being substituted for coal by refineries as fuel or feedstock for hydrogen production units, the vast majority of domestically produced petroleum coke is still being utilized in the aluminum carbon industry.
In recent years, domestic demand for petroleum coke used in aluminum carbon products has been increasing year by year, and the amount of petroleum coke produced by domestic refineries that is used in aluminum carbon products has also been rising steadily. Currently, apart from a small portion of low-sulfur coke being used in graphite electrodes, negative electrode materials, and carburizing agents; a tiny amount of medium-sulfur coke being employed as filler material for negative electrode materials; and some high-sulfur coke being substituted for coal by refineries for use as fuel or as feedstock for hydrogen production facilities, the vast majority of domestically produced petroleum coke is still being utilized in the aluminum carbon industry.
Between the first quarter of 2019 and 2020, the capacity utilization rate of China’s primary aluminum smelting industry remained broadly stable at between 70% and 75%. Starting from the second quarter of 2020, as demand for primary aluminum improved and prices surged, aluminum smelting companies turned profitable, and the capacity utilization rate of China’s primary aluminum smelting industry quickly rebounded. Since the beginning of this year, the capacity utilization rate of domestic primary aluminum smelters has generally stayed around 90%. Although external factors such as energy consumption constraints, power shortages in some regions, and government strategic reserves releases have occasionally disrupted operations, strong demand has continued to keep primary aluminum prices high, enabling aluminum plants to enjoy robust profits and maintaining the capacity utilization rate at a consistently high level.
In addition, in recent years, China’s exports of prebaked anodes have also shown a year-on-year increasing trend. Since exported anodes generally have stricter requirements for trace elements, demand for petroleum coke with superior trace-element characteristics has risen accordingly. In the first half of 2019, the export volume of prebaked anodes was 621,800 tons; in the first half of 2020, the export volume rose to 796,400 tons, an increase of 1,746,000 tons over the same period last year. In the first half of 2021, the export volume of prebaked anodes further increased to 816,600 tons, up by 20,200 tons compared to the same period last year.
Specifically, in recent years, China’s main export destinations for prebaked anodes have included Malaysia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Norway, the Netherlands, and other countries. Looking at 2021 export data, exports to Malaysia, Canada, and the UAE saw significant increases, while exports to Russia, Norway, and other regions declined somewhat.
Overall, whether it’s domestic demand or export demand, the demand for petroleum coke used in aluminum production has been increasing year by year, driving domestic petroleum coke prices to remain persistently high and, to some extent, reducing refineries’ own consumption of petroleum coke.
Keywords:
Jiasheng
Carbon
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