Petroleum coke is used as an addition to the oil refining process and in the manufacture of electrodes.

The report said increasing oil production and consumption, decreasing quality of crude oil feedstocks, and higher demand for gasoline and other transportation feeds as well as stringent environmental regulations will account for the increasing demand for petroleum coke.

Steel and aluminium growth is also expected to boost consumption of petroleum coke. The manufacture of carbon and graphite electrodes is the largest non-fuel

end-use for petroleum coke, which is the main ingredient in carbon anodes

for primary aluminium smelting and in graphite electrodes for steel production via the electric arc furnace (EAF) process.

The Roskill's report said world primary aluminium capacity is expected to increase by 5% through to the end of June 2004, resulting in a corresponding increase in petroleum coke consumption from around 8 Mt in 2000 to 8.6 Mt in 2004. However, the report noted the introduction of new technology could ultimately remove one of the major end-users for high-quality petroleum coke.

As for steel production, petroleum coke consumption in EAF steelmaking could rise to 1.65Mt by 2005, although continuing advances in electrode technology and efficiency could reduce this slightly.

The US is world largest producer of petroleum coke with 61% share of global output with the troubled Venezuela poised to become the world's second largest producer with increased capacity coming on stream next year.