What happened to chinese GPC & CPC market?

Calcined petroleum coke are mostly produced in Liaoning, Tianjin and Shandong province in China. In recent years, affected by the development of environmental protection, electric power and anode industry, more factories had been build up in Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Sichuan province. The fixed carbon and sulfur content is C: 96-99%, s: 0.3-0.7%, and the absorption rate is generally about 85%. which generally used in steelmaking, gray iron and special carburizing agents.

Graphite petroleum coke was mainly distributed in Henan, Hebei and Shandong province. Later, it was found in Jiangsu, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Sichuan province too. The specification is : 98-99.5%, s: 0.03-0.05%, and the absorption rate is generally about 90%. It is mainly used for ductile iron.

It can be seen that the recarburizer industry is developing continuously, and there are more and more producing areas, which can meet the development needs of the local market. The GPC is enjoying the higher quality, which can not only reduce the content of impurities,but also improve the carbon content of the recarburizer and reduce the sulfur content, and also greatly increase the amount of scrap steel, reduce the amount of pig iron or not use pig iron when used in casting.

Usually higher quality means higher price,which is real market situation in past years, but what happened to GPC & CPC this year?.

The industry ischaos, and the advantages of some varieties appear. From the comparative analysis of the prices of GPC & CPC from 2021 to 2022, from October 2021, the price of CPC tends to be close to the price of GPC, and the price difference gradually shrinks. Until February 2022, it really exceeds the price of GPC, and the variety advantage of CPC disappears. What caused the chaos in the industry? We have to start with raw materials.

(1)Calcined Petroleum Coke

Low sulfur petroleum coke is the main raw material of CPC. In recent two years, with the rise of anode industry, the supply of low sulfur coke has been seriously diverted, and the price has increased. From the profit situation of petroleum coke market, the price in Liaoning is 6600 yuan / ton, the profit is - 1600 yuan / ton, and the enterprise cost is seriously inverted, superimposing the poor payment in domestic steel market, Calcined petroleum coke enterprises have entered a high-pressure state, and petroleum coke production and processing enterprises in Liaoning, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Shandong and other places have entered a high level of shutdown in recent years.

(2)Graphite Petroleum Coke

With the high price and low quantity of low sulfur coke, the era of graphite petroleum coke as raw material of low sulfur coke is almost over. Medium and high sulfur coke in East China and North China began to flow into the recarburizer market. Compared with calcined petroleum coke, the label of GPC with good quality and high price began to be replaced and people-friendly action began. From its profit analysis, it can be seen that by the time of publication, The GPC in Inner Mongolia is 6000 yuan / ton, and the profit is 181 yuan / ton. Although the cost is upside down, it is a little comforting to compare the dilemma of calcined petroleum coke .

(3)Semi graphite petroleum coke

Although the price of GPC agent is similar to that of calcined petroleum coke, for the manufacturers who used calcined petroleum coke before, the price is difficult to digest in the production cost. At the same time, a product semi graphite petroleum has been produced in the market, which has the same index as that of CPC, However, the price does have an absolute advantage, so it suddenly rose in a short time and occupied part of the market share. As of press time, the semi GPC in Inner Mongolia is 6000 yuan / ton, which is 600 yuan / ton lower than that of CPC.