Post-Holiday Petroleum Coke Market Review: Prices Rise Across the Board, Supply-Demand Improves, Profit Margins Recover
# As enterprises gradually resume operations after the holiday, petroleum coke production and logistics are recovering steadily. Downstream sectors are restocking intensively, market transactions are improving, and refinery quotes are trending up, with increases ranging from **20 to 200 RMB/ton** in the Shandong region.
## I. Petroleum Coke Prices Rise Across the Board Month-on-Month, High-Sulfur Coke Performs Prominently
As of February 24, 2026, domestic petroleum coke prices showed **broad month-on-month increases**, while year-on-year trends diverged significantly: medium and low-sulfur coke prices fell sharply, whereas high-sulfur coke prices rose compared to the previous year.
- 2# Coke: 3537 RMB/ton, +2.46% MoM, -33.38% YoY
- 3# Coke: 2755 RMB/ton, +2.11% MoM, -17.98% YoY
- 4# High-sulfur Coke: 1909 RMB/ton, +17.99% MoM, +11.57% YoY
The month-on-month increases were primarily driven by post-holiday production resumption and downstream restocking. High-sulfur coke saw a larger price increase due to more concentrated demand release. The significant year-on-year decline in medium and low-sulfur coke prices is mainly attributed to the **high comparison base in the same period of 2025**, coupled with increased refinery output and concentrated imports arrivals in 2026, leading to ample supply. Conversely, the year-on-year increase in high-sulfur coke prices stems from **tight supply combined with concentrated restocking early in the year**.
In the short term, the market will continue to be supported by restocking activities, with prices expected to experience **narrow fluctuations**. Looking at the medium to long term, refinery maintenance schedules from March to May and improving demand for anode materials suggest room for price volatility.
## II. Resumption and Restocking in Shandong Region Significantly Improve Supply-Demand Dynamics
Before the Spring Festival, downstream shutdowns and logistics constraints weakened demand. This caused the **supply-demand gap for Shandong independent refineries to briefly turn positive**, leading to a continuous price decline to pre-holiday lows. Post-holiday resumption triggered concentrated restocking, causing a rapid rebound in demand and a **narrowing supply-demand gap**, which subsequently drove petroleum coke prices higher.
## III. Capacity Utilization Rate Edges Up, Prices and Profit Margins Rebound Simultaneously
During the holiday, Wudi Xinyue resumed production, pushing the domestic petroleum coke **capacity utilization rate up to 69.75%**.
Both prices and profit margins followed a pattern of **pre-holiday decline and post-holiday rebound**:
- Before the holiday, prices fell to 1692 RMB/ton, with profit margins as low as 36.13 RMB/ton.
- By late February, the average price recovered to 1836 RMB/ton, and profit margins improved to 67.4 RMB/ton, showing a modest expansion in profitability.