China's Steel Giant Ansteel to put its Needle Coke Plant into Operations in Jun'19

China's one of the largest steel manufacturers Ansteel Holdings is all set to start its coal-tar based needle coke plant by early June 2019.

As per the sources, the company has commissioned its needle coke equipment which is expected to be put it into operation in early June and the plant will start producing green needle coke products in Jul'19 with sulphur content as low as 0.3%.

The company had started its needle coke plant project in March last year and the total investment involved in the same is USD 500 million. The first sale of the project is expected to be in August this year and the total production expected in 2019 is around 10,000 tonnes.

The company will focus on the domestic market to sell its needle coke and in the long run the organisation plans to build graphite electrodes plant and used needle coke for its own GE production. At present Ansteel's electrodes requirement is around 20,000 tonnes per year.

Ansteel is a state-owned enterprise managed by China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and a giant in iron and steel business.

The company has its own coal-tar pitch plant (a key raw material for needle coke) with the annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes. In China domestic needle coke prices are currently trending at RMB 20,000-24,000/MT (USD 2,900-3,480/MT).

China's Needle coke import surges

According to China's customs data, the country imported about 10,000 tonnes of petroleum needle coke in Mar'19, up by around 7% y-o-y basis and 69% y-o-y basis. In the first three months of 2019 (Jan-Mar), China's total import volume of petroleum needle coke was about 27,000 tonnes, up by 57% against the corresponding period of last year.

Country-wise highest imports were made from UK at 8,968 tonnes, followed by Japan at 826 tonnes and U.S. at 158 tonnes.

In case of coal-tar pitch needle coke, China imported about 7,314 tonnes in Mar'19, up by 49% M-o-M basis and by 39% against Mar'18. In the first three months of 2019, the country imported about 20,000 tonnes, down by 28% against the corresponding period last year.
In case of coal-tar needle coke, the highest imports were made from Japan at 4,205 tonnes followed by South Korea at 3,109 tonnes.