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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":673,"relatedVideos":674},112471794301713,"ebeb7de1-349e-4685-9bce-99665f1bbcf5","China takes steps towards reducing reliance on needle coke imports","china-makes-steps-towards-reducing-reliance-on-needle-coke-imports","article/china-makes-steps-towards-reducing-reliance-on-needle-coke-imports",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":649,"featured":50,"reporter":650,"_editable":654,"component":655,"seo_title":543,"categories":656,"visibility":666,"author_company":49,"featured_image":667,"seo_description":649,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":671,"formattedArticleDate":672},"6a6c13b9-da2e-42b8-b0be-c5205d3843e8","2023-02-21 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"synthetic-graphite","Synthetic graphite",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":560},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,573,578,583,588,593,598,603,612,619,624,629,634,639,644],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570],{"text":571,"type":572},"China’s efforts to reduce its reliance on importing low sulphur needle coke will see it cement its position as the world’s largest producer of the synthetic anode feedstock this year, Benchmark data shows.","text",{"type":567,"attrs":574,"content":575},{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":572},"The country is forecast to produce 670,000 tonnes of low-sulphur petroleum needle coke, known as super-premium and premium quality coke this year, according to the Benchmark Synthetic Graphite Forecast, more than the rest of the world combined. Despite this growth in production the country will remain reliant on foreign imports to support its synthetic anode supply chain.",{"type":567,"attrs":579,"content":580},{"textAlign":49},[581],{"text":582,"type":572},"“China is looking to lower reliance on high quality needle coke imports because it is expensive to purchase outright, and cheaper to manufacture in-house. China knows that the best way to acquire larger margins in the battery supply chain is to capture more value at every stage of the supply chain by vertically integrating,” said George Miller, an analyst at Benchmark.",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"Just last year for the first time on record, China produced more low sulphur coke than the rest of the world combined. High quality needle coke production in China totalled 645,000 in 2022, more than the rest of the world’s production volume of 639,000 tonnes, Benchmark data shows.",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"“A lot of this material comes from the UK, Japan and North America. In the past, this is where the highest quality coke has been produced and now China is establishing its own high quality needle coke supply to compete and feed into its battery anode industry,” added Miller.",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":572},"Historically, high quality needle coke has been used in the steelmaking industry but its use by the battery industry has grown thanks to a booming electric vehicle sector, where synthetic graphite anode materials hold a majority share. ",{"type":567,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":572},"Global electric vehicle passenger car and light duty vehicle sales reached 10.3 million units in 2022, an year-on-year jump of 58.5%, according to EV market analysis firm Rho Motion.",{"type":567,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"type":607,"attrs":608},"image",{"id":49,"alt":609,"src":610,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":611},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/5637f4bfae/bm-china-needle-coke-production-chart.png",{},{"type":613,"attrs":614,"content":616},"heading",{"level":615,"textAlign":49},4,[617],{"text":618,"type":572},"Growing fast",{"type":567,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"text":623,"type":572},"China is set to nearly double its high quality needle coke production by the end of this year from 2020 amid efforts to increase its high quality needle coke capacity.",{"type":567,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"textAlign":49},[627],{"text":628,"type":572},"“Rest of the world supplies [high quality needle coke] are not growing nearly as fast as China’s,” Miller said. ",{"type":567,"attrs":630,"content":631},{"textAlign":49},[632],{"text":633,"type":572},"Currently, a conservative forecast estimates China to produce ~900,000 tonnes of high quality needle coke by the end of the decade while the rest of the world supply is expected to be ~700,000 tonnes. ",{"type":567,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":572},"Given a shift from traditional blast furnaces in steel making to less-emissive electric arc furnaces however, which consume the same high quality synthetic graphite as electrodes, competition between the two end-markets is starting to drive the battery anode industry to experiment with lower quality feedstocks in periods of high pricing or low availability. ",{"type":567,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":572},"While high quality needle coke prices peaked at ~$1,800 a tonne last year and have come down to ~$1,400 levels, cheaper cokes can be priced anywhere between $500 to $800 a tonne depending on the grade, according to Benchmark data.",{"type":567,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":572},"“This should keep both markets well supplied, compounded by China’s drive to build out a leading global position in refining high quality, low sulphur cokes,” said Miller. ","China’s efforts to reduce its reliance on importing low sulphur needle coke will see it cement its position as the world’s largest producer of the synthetic anode feedstock this year, Benchmark data shows. The country is forecast to produce 670,000 tonnes of low-sulphur petroleum needle coke, known as super-premium and premium quality coke this year, […]",[651],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":652},{"job_title":558,"image":653,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"6a6c13b9-da2e-42b8-b0be-c5205d3843e8\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[657,660,663],{"slug":658,"name":659},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":661,"name":662},"geopolitics","Geopolitics",{"slug":664,"name":665},"graphite","Graphite","private",{"id":49,"alt":609,"name":609,"focus":609,"title":609,"source":609,"filename":668,"copyright":609,"fieldtype":669,"meta_data":670,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/f0fd957cc4/bm-china-ev-charging-small.jpg","asset",{"alt":609,"title":609,"source":609,"copyright":609},"Feb 21, 2023","21st February 2023",[],[],1780670077871]