Coke plants in Xuzhou re-open for business
Merchant coke producers in Xuzhou, a major production base for the material in East China’s Jiangsu province, are firing up their plants once more after being idled for as long as two months while their pollution control systems were inspected.
A survey conducted by Mysteel on Wednesday of all ten coke producers in Xuzhou found that four had restarted production. However, capacity utilization of those working furnaces was less than 50%, survey respondents said, so that daily coke output at the four plants is averaging only 6,000 tonnes/day in total, Mysteel calculates.
The four coke producers host a total design capacity of 7.45 million tonnes/year – or 49% of Xuzhou’s total – so current output is still languishing at less than one third.
The re-start of Xuzhou’s coking plants only began last week when the 2.6 million t/y capacity coke producer, Xuzhou Dongxing Energy, located in Xuzhou’s Jiawang district and one of the city’s largest in terms of installed capacity, recommenced operations, a market insider explained.
In fact, on July 19 the firm announced in a web post that its 1.3 million t/y coke battery had received a safety clearance from the local government, saying that its plant “has met the basic requirements for trial operation”, the plant disclosed. After being idled for so long while its pollution control and environmental protection facilities were examined, the plant needed a works safety check before the start switch could be activated, Mysteel notes.
Over July 18-19, a team sent by the Jiangsu provincial safety committee and comprising experts from Nanjing Iron and Steel United Co, SINOPEC Nanjing Chemical Industries, and the Nanjing fire department conducted detailed checks of the unit to reduce the risk of fire or other accidents, the company noted.
Meanwhile, Mysteel has learned that another Xuzhou coke maker with a capacity of 2.6 million t/y had received the green light to re-fire its batteries and start introducing coking coal to its furnaces. However, no coke has apparently been produced yet, Mysteel understands.
“It looks like more and more furnaces in Xuzhou are resuming operations now, but nobody is certain how long they can keep on producing,” a Shanghai-based analyst said. “All coke makers are very conscious of having to control their emissions, which is why they are hesitating to ramp up to full capacity. If the level of emissions fails to meet requirements, they may have to re-idle their furnaces again.”
As of August 2, the offer price of merchant coke with ash 13% and sulfur 0.7% in Xuzhou was at Yuan 2,100/t ($308/t) EXW and including 16% VAT, some Yuan 200/t higher compared with the price in mid-May when all coke plants were idled. Over May 15-August 2, the price of merchant coke with ash 12.5% and sulfur 0.65% at Rizhao port, also in East China, had increased by Yuan 300/t to Yuan 2,250/t including 16% VAT.
Xuzhou is a top coking base in East China with coking capacity of about 15 million t/y and a molten iron capacity of about 18 million t/y. However, persistently high levels of smog over the city led the local government to order all coking plants idled from mid-May and all iron- and steel producers were told to stop their plants from early April. As of August 1, only a few steelmakers had resumed operations, as reported.
Written by Sean Xie, xiepy@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
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