【Petroleum Coke】Up by RMB 20–200! Post-Holiday Market Review: Broad Price Gains,...

Calcined petroleum coke, with its high carbon content, low sulfur, and low impurities, plays a vital role in modern manufacturing, especially in the aluminum and steel industries.

【Petroleum Coke】Up by RMB 20–200! Post-Holiday Market Review: Broad Price Gains, Improving Supply-Demand Balance, Profit Recovery

After the holiday, enterprises have gradually resumed operations. Petroleum coke production and logistics are steadily recovering, while downstream buyers have engaged in concentrated restocking. Market transactions have improved, and refinery quotations have moved upward steadily. In Shandong, price increases ranged from RMB 20–200/ton.

I. Broad Month-on-Month Price Increases; High-Sulfur Coke Outperforms

As of February 24, 2026, domestic petroleum coke prices rose across the board month-on-month, while year-on-year performance diverged: medium- and low-sulfur coke declined significantly, whereas high-sulfur coke increased year-on-year.

• 2# Coke: RMB 3,537/ton, MoM +2.46%, YoY -33.38%

• 3# Coke: RMB 2,755/ton, MoM +2.11%, YoY -17.98%

• 4# High-Sulfur Coke: RMB 1,909/ton, MoM +17.99%, YoY +11.57%

The month-on-month increase was mainly driven by post-holiday resumption of operations and downstream restocking. High-sulfur coke saw a larger gain due to more concentrated demand release. The sharp year-on-year decline in medium- and low-sulfur coke was primarily due to a higher base in the same period of 2025, along with increased refinery output and concentrated arrivals of imported coke in 2026, leading to looser supply. In contrast, the year-on-year increase in high-sulfur coke stemmed from tight supply combined with concentrated restocking at the beginning of the year.

In the short term, the market remains supported by restocking demand, with prices expected to fluctuate within a narrow range. In the medium to long term, refinery maintenance from March to May and improving demand from anode material producers may create further price volatility.

II. Shandong Resumption and Restocking Improve Supply-Demand Fundamentals

Before the Spring Festival, downstream shutdowns and logistics constraints weakened demand. The supply-demand balance of independent refineries in Shandong temporarily shifted from deficit to surplus, and prices declined to pre-holiday lows. After the holiday, production resumed and restocking demand rebounded rapidly. The supply-demand gap narrowed, driving sustained increases in petroleum coke prices.

III. Capacity Utilization Edges Up; Prices and Profits Rebound in Tandem

During the Spring Festival, Wudi Xinyue resumed production, lifting the domestic petroleum coke capacity utilization rate to 69.75%.

Prices and profits both declined before the holiday and rebounded afterward:

· Before the holiday, prices fell to RMB 1,692/ton, with profits at only RMB 36.13/ton;

· By late February, the average price recovered to RMB 1,836/ton, and profits improved to RMB 67.4/ton, with margins expanding modestly.

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