The Supply And Demand Of Global Needle Coke Report, 2012-2015

　　Needlecoke mainly finds application in graphite electrode for electric steelmakingand in areas of lithium battery, nuclear power, aerospace, etc. Since 2009, theglobal demand for needle coke has shoot up in the wake of the gradual recoveryin the industrial downstream. During the same period, the world’s industrialmagnates have taken no actions to expand their capacities in a massive scale,out of consideration for holding precedence in prices, leading to lingeringlystrained supply all over the world with the supply-demand gap in 2012 hitting100,000 tons. In particular, China was the most distinctive with the shortsupply gapping 120,000 tons among the world’s leading needle coke consumers.

　　Asthe largest steel producer in the world, China has been maintaining huge demandfor needle cokes. Moreover, ultra-high power graphite electrode is occupyingincreasing proportion as a result of continuously optimizing product structurein the graphite electrode industry, which, in turn, further fuels the demandfor needle cokes. At the same time, China has smaller amount of needle cokeenterprises which feature weak technological base and are huddled by theuncertainty of stable production and product quality. Thus, the needle cokecapacity in China has seen slow growth with the supply gap increasinglywidening. In 2009-2012, China’s demand for needle coke soared from 161,000 tonsto 360,000 tons with the CAGR of 30.8% while the annual capacity surged from130,000 tons to 240,000 tons with the CAGR of 22.7%. Given that most newindustrial players encounter technical huddles and that industrial veteranswitness limited capacity growth, the supply shortage is projected to go on inthe upcoming two years.

　　AsChina is rich in coal and poor in oil, the supply of coal-based needle coke rawmaterials is abundant and China is technologically advanced in this regard.Nationwide, the existing needle coke capacity and most of planned and ongoingneedle coke capacities are coal based needle cokes rather than oil-based needlecokes. Presently, large-sized ultra-high power graphite electrode products havebecome the mainstream in the graphite electrode industry. Because of its uniqueproperties, oil-based needle cokes are ideal to make large-sized ultra-highpower graphite electrode products. Hence, China needle coke market iswitnessing structural imbalance between supply and demand.

　　Internationally,oil-based needle coke production technology is dominated by the US, Britain andJapan while the coal-based needle coke production technology is monopolized byJapan. ConocoPhillips, the world’s biggest producer of oil-based needle coke,realizes the needle coke capacity of 370,000 tons/a and the figure keeps stablein recent years. And the tycoon serves as one of benchmark makers when it comesto the oil-based needle coke prices globally.

　　Seadriftis the world’s second largest oil-based needle coke maker with the capacityrecording 150,000 tons/a. In 2012, it was taken over by GTI, America’s largestgraphite electrode manufacturer. According to GTI planning, the long-termcapacity of the company will reach 240,000-25,000 tons/a.

　　C-Chemis a professional carbon product maker under Nippon Steel, and the world’slargest coal-based needle coke producer. In recent years, its needle cokecapacity has greatly boosted through capacity expansion with the figure in 2012soaring to 170,000 tons/a.

　　ShanxiHongte Coal Chemical Industry is a coal-based needle coke enterprise in China,the first realized commercial production. In response to domestically robustdemand, the company began its 100,000-ton coal-based needle coke project in2008 which was put into operation in 2012 with the current capacity of 150,000tons/a.

　　In Jun., 2011, the bidding of SINO Steel AnshanResearch Institute of Thermal Energy’s second phase of needle coke project drewthe curtain. According to real market demand, the company adjusted the capacityof the second phase to 120,000 tons/a. Meanwhile, the feasibility study andenvironmental assessment of the second phase had been done in 2012. And it isestimated to be put into production in 2014.