Russia’s Gazprom Delivers First Batch of Needle Coke to the Country’s Domestic Manufacturers

As per the latest updates, Russia’s only needle coke manufacturer, Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery has finally produced and supplied its first batch of needle coke to the domestic manufacturers.

This initial pilot batch having undergone prior testing before being dispatched to a domestic client to form the blueprint for the first premium-quality electrodes in Russia to be produced from domestic raw materials.

While this is a pilot project, the commercial production of needle coke is expected to start at the refinery in 2021 following the reconstruction of the delayed coking unit. This RUB2.5 billion-project forms part of the Omsk Refinery’s modernization program, being undertaken by Gazprom Neft since 2008.

Following reconstruction, the Omsk Refinery’s delayed coking unit will have a production capacity of 38,700 tonnes of raw needle coke per year. Three heavy-duty coke drums, weighing 197 tonnes and each of them 28.5 metres long, have already been installed - this equipment having been produced by leading Russian manufacturer Volgogradneftemash. Modernisation by 2021 will also involve the replacement of furnace heaters and secondary distillation columns, construction of an additional tank farm, and the implementation of automated control systems.

Russia is entirely dependent upon imports to meet its needle coke requirements and with Gazprom’s needle coke project, the graphite electrodes companies will be able to meet their raw material requirements domestically.

Russia’s crude steel production in 2018 was around 72 MnT and the share of EAF in its steelmaking is about 31% resulting which its GE requirement for domestic consumption is quite limited. However, the country is one of the major electrodes exporters as it exported about 47,568 tonnes of GE in 2018, registering a growth of 21% y-o-y basis with highest exports being made to U.S. followed by Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Germany. In the first four months of 2019, Russia has exported about 13,995 tonnes of GE. The only major electrodes producer in Russia at present is Eenergoprom Group that has three plants specializing in manufacturing high-quality electrode in Novocherkassk, Novosibirsk, and Chelyabinsk.