Bottom line: Green and calcined petroleum coke are effectively two different commodities — in 2024 US green coke left the country at an average FOB unit value of $85.17/t while US calcined coke left at $460.77/t, a 5.4x gap — and the structural fact that matters most: the United States shipped 36.7 Mt of green coke in 2024 while China imported 13.4 Mt and exported only 1.54 Mt of calcined coke, positioning China as the mid-stream processor rather than the origin of the material.
All figures come from key-free public sources: the UN Comtrade public preview API for HS 271311 (“petroleum coke, not calcined”) and HS 271312 (“petroleum coke, calcined”), the World Bank Commodity Price Data for the coal benchmark, and the US Energy Information Administration for context.
Latest 12 months — updated 22 September 2026
Data updated: 2026-09-22. The five-year tables in this article end in 2024. China has not published net weight for this HS code since 2024 — its 2025-onward records carry trade value but no weight, so no unit value can be computed from them. Other reporters still publish both. The table below is the most recent 12 months published for Calcined petroleum coke (HS 271312) (June 2025 – May 2026), with every month traceable to its own query.
United States · exports
| Month | Value (USD m) | Volume (kt) | Implied unit value (USD/t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/25 | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| 07/25 | 93.9 | 192.1 | 489 |
| 08/25 | 96.9 | 185.9 | 522 |
| 09/25 | 61.3 | 153.9 | 398 |
| 10/25 | 107.9 | 210.5 | 513 |
| 11/25 | 79.6 | 165.0 | 483 |
| 12/25 | 89.7 | 218.4 | 411 |
| 01/26 | 96.6 | 191.8 | 504 |
| 02/26 | 103.1 | 190.7 | 540 |
| 03/26 | 95.9 | 183.7 | 522 |
| 04/26 | 99.7 | 180.4 | 553 |
| 05/26 | 103.0 | 198.2 | 520 |
India · exports
| Month | Value (USD m) | Volume (kt) | Implied unit value (USD/t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/25 | 17.9 | 40.0 | 448 |
| 07/25 | 22.6 | 47.0 | 480 |
| 08/25 | 8.3 | 24.1 | 345 |
| 09/25 | 15.4 | 35.3 | 437 |
| 10/25 | 16.3 | 35.6 | 458 |
| 11/25 | 15.4 | 34.6 | 444 |
| 12/25 | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| 01/26 | 17.0 | 32.9 | 515 |
| 02/26 | 13.8 | 29.4 | 469 |
| 03/26 | 27.5 | 52.9 | 521 |
| 04/26 | 6.9 | 13.5 | 514 |
| 05/26 | 16.7 | 37.2 | 447 |
What the recent window shows.
- US exports: the first and latest published months in this window are USD 489/t in 07/25 and USD 520/t in 05/26 (+6.4% over the window, i.e. unit values rose). The window high is USD 553/t (04/26) and the low USD 398/t (09/25).
- India exports: the first and latest published months in this window are USD 448/t in 06/25 and USD 447/t in 05/26 (-0.2% over the window, i.e. unit values fell). The window high is USD 521/t (03/26) and the low USD 345/t (08/25).
Where a month shows n/r the reporter did not publish a net weight for that month, so no unit value can be derived — those gaps are left empty rather than estimated.
- United States · exports — monthly queries: 07/25 · 08/25 · 09/25 · 10/25 · 11/25 · 12/25 · 01/26 · 02/26 · 03/26 · 04/26 · 05/26
- India · exports — monthly queries: 06/25 · 07/25 · 08/25 · 09/25 · 10/25 · 11/25 · 01/26 · 02/26 · 03/26 · 04/26 · 05/26
1. China’s green coke import position
| Year | Volume (t) | CIF value (USD) | Unit value (USD/t) | Reported partner rows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 10,106,273 | 950,066,017 | 94.01 | 22 |
| 2021 | 12,515,782 | 2,349,212,499 | 187.70 | 29 |
| 2022 | 14,840,592 | 4,683,693,997 | 315.60 | 32 |
| 2023 | 16,016,283 | 3,603,707,940 | 225.00 | 30 |
| 2024 | 13,414,023 | 2,038,905,855 | 152.00 | 33 |
Table 1. China imports of petroleum coke, not calcined (HS 271311), 2020–2024. Volumes in metric tonnes of reported net weight; values in USD, CIF basis; unit values calculated by PetroApex. Source: UN Comtrade public preview API (reporter 156).
Volume rose from 10.11 Mt in 2020 to a peak of 16.02 Mt in 2023, then fell 16.2% to 13.41 Mt in 2024. Unit value moved far more violently: up 235.7% from $94.01/t in 2020 to $315.60/t in 2022, then down 51.8% to $152.00/t by 2024.
| Supplier | Volume (t) | Share of China imports | CIF value (USD) | Unit value (USD/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 3,861,606 | 28.8% | 569,917,634 | 148 |
| Russian Federation | 2,483,424 | 18.5% | 354,583,112 | 143 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1,554,779 | 11.6% | 178,394,651 | 115 |
| Canada | 979,989 | 7.3% | 120,212,882 | 123 |
| Colombia | 801,423 | 6.0% | 109,400,223 | 137 |
| Venezuela | 766,979 | 5.7% | 87,834,429 | 115 |
| Other Asia, nes | 510,606 | 3.8% | 80,506,692 | 158 |
| Brazil | 506,083 | 3.8% | 123,881,404 | 245 |
| Argentina | 401,159 | 3.0% | 103,671,369 | 258 |
| Kuwait | 284,300 | 2.1% | 60,514,680 | 213 |
Table 2. China imports of petroleum coke, not calcined (HS 271311), top 10 reported suppliers, 2024. Total across all 33 reported partner rows: 13,414,023 t / $2,038,905,855. Source: UN Comtrade public preview API. “Other Asia, nes” is a UN Comtrade residual grouping, not a single country.
Three observations follow. No single supplier exceeds 30% of volume, and the top six together reach only 77.9% — a diversified sourcing base. Unit values range from $115/t (Saudi Arabia, Venezuela) to $258/t (Argentina); that is a specification signal, not a pricing anomaly, because this single HS line contains coke of widely differing sulphur, metals and volatile matter content, so cross-origin comparison must use assay data rather than the tariff line. And the volume leaders are not the price extremes: the United States and Russia dominate tonnage at $148/t and $143/t, while the highest unit values sit with far smaller suppliers.
2. China’s export side: the calcining position
| Year | Green coke exports (t) | Green coke unit value (USD/t) | Calcined coke exports (t) | Calcined coke unit value (USD/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 398,318 | 152.77 | 1,385,242 | 289.85 |
| 2021 | 303,111 | 335.92 | 1,553,948 | 497.25 |
| 2022 | 251,591 | 549.18 | 1,377,784 | 884.11 |
| 2023 | 186,986 | 484.51 | 1,392,864 | 576.03 |
| 2024 | 188,115 | 296.29 | 1,540,251 | 386.66 |
Table 3. China exports of HS 271311 (not calcined) and HS 271312 (calcined), 2020–2024. Values in USD, FOB basis; unit values calculated by PetroApex. Source: UN Comtrade public preview API (reporter 156).
The scale asymmetry is the story. China imported 13.41 Mt of green coke in 2024 and exported 1.54 Mt of calcined coke — a calcined volume equal to 11.5% of its green coke imports. This is not a mass balance, since China also produces and consumes coke domestically, but it establishes the value chain direction: green coke flows in, a smaller higher-value calcined tonnage flows out.
Both export lines peaked in 2022 and then collapsed. Calcined coke unit value fell 56.3% from $884.11/t to $386.66/t, and green coke unit value fell 46.0% over the same two years. Across the full 2020–2024 period, China’s green coke export volume fell 52.8% while its calcined export volume rose 11.2%.
Destinations differ sharply. In 2024, 62.8% of China’s green coke exports (118,094 t) went to a single buyer, Japan, at $310/t. Calcined exports spread across 51 partner rows, led by the United Arab Emirates (380,797 t, 24.7%, $392/t), India (233,185 t, 15.1%, $347/t), Australia (228,015 t, 14.8%, $349/t) and Oman (169,483 t, 11.0%, $333/t). Russia, at 45,460 t, drew the top ten’s highest unit value of $777/t — more than double the Middle East average — again pointing to specification rather than anomaly.
3. The United States: dominant green coke exporter
| Year | Green coke exports (t) | Green coke unit value (USD/t) | Calcined coke exports (t) | Calcined coke unit value (USD/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 32,210,051 | 51.73 | 2,663,778 | 366.29 |
| 2021 | 30,482,561 | 108.81 | 3,347,795 | 406.14 |
| 2022 | 33,744,178 | 173.63 | 3,529,635 | 632.02 |
| 2023 | 34,921,096 | 122.47 | 2,569,910 | 574.11 |
| 2024 | 36,735,575 | 85.17 | 2,333,614 | 460.77 |
Table 4. United States exports of HS 271311 and HS 271312, 2020–2024. Values in USD, FOB basis; unit values calculated by PetroApex. Source: UN Comtrade public preview API (reporter 842).
US green coke export volume rose 14.0% between 2020 and 2024 to 36.74 Mt, while unit value fell 50.9% from its 2022 peak to $85.17/t. US calcined export volume fell 12.4% over the same period and its unit value fell 27.1%. Calcined pricing proved roughly twice as resilient — consistent with calcined coke being a specification-controlled anode feedstock rather than a fuel substitute.
The destination mix confirms the split. US green coke went to fuel-grade markets across 67 partner rows, led by India (8,131,047 t, 22.1%, $82/t), China (4,337,734 t, 11.8%, $100/t), Türkiye (3,356,642 t, 9.1%, $65/t) and Brazil (3,288,772 t, 9.0%, $75/t). US calcined coke went to a different list across 53 partner rows, led by Canada (408,475 t, 17.5%, $416/t), Australia (348,722 t, 14.9%, $500/t), Brazil (252,219 t, 10.8%, $417/t) and Mexico (196,741 t, 8.4%, $290/t).
4. Cross-checking against official US data
The US Energy Information Administration, drawing on US Census Bureau data, reports that US petroleum coke production averaged 46 million tons per year over 2014–2023, that the United States exported approximately 41 million tons in 2023 against a ten-year average of 40 million tons, and that fuel-grade petcoke is roughly 90% of exports, has held near 37 million tons since 2014, typically sells at a 15% to 20% discount to thermal coal, and that US power generators’ petcoke consumption fell from 4.4 million tons in 2014 to 1.8 million tons in 2023.
The HS-based total for US petcoke exports in 2023 is 37.49 Mt (34,921,096 t of HS 271311 plus 2,569,910 t of HS 271312), below the EIA’s 41 Mt. The gap is a basis difference, not a contradiction: the EIA series covers marketable petroleum coke on a US Census basis, excluding catalyst coke and exports not assigned to ports. The two should never be mixed in one calculation.
5. Testing the coal-discount benchmark
| Year | US green coke FOB (USD/t) | Coal, Australian (USD/t) | Green coke as % of coal | Implied discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 51.73 | 60.8 | 85.1% | 14.9% |
| 2021 | 108.81 | 138.1 | 78.8% | 21.2% |
| 2022 | 173.63 | 344.9 | 50.3% | 49.7% |
| 2023 | 122.47 | 172.8 | 70.9% | 29.1% |
| 2024 | 85.17 | 136.1 | 62.6% | 37.4% |
Table 5. US green coke export unit value versus the Australian thermal coal benchmark. Green coke source: UN Comtrade (as Table 4), FOB basis. Coal source: World Bank Commodity Price Data, nominal USD, Australian thermal coal f.o.b. Newcastle, 6,000 kcal/kg. Ratio and implied discount calculated by PetroApex.
In 2020 the observed 14.9% gap sat inside the EIA’s stated 15% to 20% band, validating the method in a normal year. From 2021 the gap widened well beyond that band and has not returned. Three testable explanations exist and none is confirmed here: the coal benchmark is one high-quality specification while the coke figure averages across grades and US ports; moisture, sulphur and metals are normalised in neither series; and the two are not on a common delivered basis. Table 5 is not a pricing formula.
6. Mirror statistics: the same cargo, two numbers
US export records show 4,337,734 t of green coke shipped to China in 2024 at an average FOB unit value of $100/t; China’s import records show 3,861,606 t received from the United States at an average CIF unit value of $148/t. The volume difference is 476,128 t, or 11.0% of the US figure, and the gap between $100/t FOB and $148/t CIF is consistent with freight, insurance and trader margin. Mirror discrepancies are normal in customs data, and they are why an analysis must never average an exporter’s FOB series with an importer’s CIF series.
7. What this means for buyers
- Specify the product, not the HS code. HS 271311 contains material trading from $65/t to $258/t by origin. A tender citing the tariff line without sulphur, metals, volatile matter and moisture limits does not specify an outcome.
- Expect green coke pricing to stay weaker than calcined. Through 2022–2024 US green coke unit values fell roughly twice as far as US calcined values; fuel-grade coke competes with coal, anode-grade on specification.
- Treat China as a processing counterparty, not only a demand centre. China imported 13.41 Mt of green coke in 2024 against 1.54 Mt of calcined exports, with calcined destinations in the Gulf and Asian aluminium and steel corridors.
- Diversify beyond the top two origins. The top six suppliers cover 77.9% of China’s green coke imports, leaving real volume with Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
- Do not read these unit values as market prices. They are volume-weighted customs averages on CIF or FOB terms, unadjusted for specification, moisture or calorific value.
8. Related products on PetroApex
- Petroleum Coke — parent page covering green (fuel-grade) coke specification and handling.
- Calcined Petroleum Coke — the anode-grade material whose trade dynamics are set out in Tables 3 and 4.
- Petroleum Coke Powder — milled coke grades used as fuel and as a carbon additive.
- Crude Oil — the upstream driver of coker yield and coke quality.
- Ethylene Tar — the other major refinery residue stream competing for the same carbon feedstock applications.
- Bitumen — a further heavy residue product and a useful cross-check on residue upgrading economics.
Methodology
All trade figures came from the UN Comtrade public preview API (key-free); import values are the reporter’s CIF value and export values the reporter’s FOB value. Unit values are reported value divided by reported net weight in tonnes. No smoothing, interpolation or extrapolation was applied, and where 2025 data was unavailable the series stops at 2024. Totals in Tables 1 to 4 are the reporters’ own World aggregates, reconciled against the sum of their partner rows. US production, export volume, fuel-grade share, coal-discount and power-sector figures are drawn from and attributed to the EIA publication below. No subscription price-assessment service (including ICIS, Platts, Argus or Wood Mackenzie) was consulted.
Sources
UN Comtrade public preview API (key-free). Tables 1 to 4 come from queries of the form https://comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?reporterCode=<R>&period=<YYYY>&flowCode=<F>&cmdCode=<C> using the parameters below, for each period 2020–2024.
| Series | R | F | C | Periods | Verified URL (period=2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China green coke imports | 156 | M | 271311 | 2020–2024 | link |
| China green coke exports | 156 | X | 271311 | 2020–2024 | link |
| China calcined coke exports | 156 | X | 271312 | 2020–2024 | link |
| US green coke exports | 842 | X | 271311 | 2020–2024 | link |
| US calcined coke exports | 842 | X | 271312 | 2020–2024 | link |
R = reporterCode, F = flowCode (M = import, X = export), C = cmdCode. Partner codes were resolved using the reference below.
- US Energy Information Administration, “Most U.S. petroleum coke is exported”, Today in Energy, 14 November 2024 — source of the US figures cited in sections 4 and 5: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=63705
- US Census Bureau refinery data as cited by EIA: https://data.census.gov/profile/324110_-_Petroleum_refineries
- World Bank Commodity Price Data (“Pink Sheet”), annual prices, nominal USD (Australian thermal coal, f.o.b. Newcastle, 6,000 kcal/kg; updated 2 September 2026): CMO-Historical-Data-Annual.xlsx, with the landing page at worldbank.org/en/research/commodity-markets
- UN Comtrade partner area reference (numeric partner codes resolved to country names): https://comtradeapi.un.org/files/v1/app/reference/partnerAreas.json
- HS classification: 271311 = “Petroleum coke, not calcined”; 271312 = “Petroleum coke, calcined”.