Coconut shell char landed at USD 470–560/t: what moved this quarter
Char is 45–55% of the cost of a tonne of activated carbon. Here is the current landed range into Henan and the three variables that will move it before December.
Where the number sits today
Coconut shell char, 8–14 mesh, moisture below 8%, landed at a Henan plant is quoting USD 470–560 per tonne in the first half of October 2026. The spread is wide because two grades are being sold under one name: mill char from Sumatra at the low end with 12–18% fines, and screened, kiln-dried char from Sulawesi at the high end.
For a 1 t/h line running 7,000 hours a year, that range is worth USD 290,000–350,000 a year in raw material, before any change in carbon price. It is the single largest line item on the cost sheet, which is why buyers ask about it before they ask about the furnace.
Cost build-up per tonne of finished carbon
| Item | Low case | High case |
|---|---|---|
| Char consumed (1.65–1.75 t) | USD 776 | USD 980 |
| Steam and fuel | USD 180 | USD 240 |
| Labour and maintenance | USD 70 | USD 95 |
| Screen loss and packing | USD 55 | USD 70 |
| Total cash cost per tonne | ≈ USD 1,081 | ≈ USD 1,385 |
The three variables to watch
Nothing else on this list will move the number by more than a few dollars.
- Fines content. Every 5 percentage points of fines below 8 mesh is roughly USD 25/t of value lost, because fines must be re-briquetted or sold as low-grade powder.
- Moisture at loading. Char at 15% moisture instead of 8% means you pay for 70 kg of water per tonne and burn extra fuel drying it. Always contract on dry basis.
- Freight and container availability. Sulawesi to Qingdao has been running USD 38–52/t in 2026. A rate spike adds directly to landed cost with no warning.
What to do before December
If you have storage, buy screened char now rather than mill char, and buy on a dry-basis contract with a fines penalty clause. The discount you get for accepting fines is almost never enough to cover the loss in yield.
If you do not have storage, lock a monthly volume with a price collar rather than a fixed price. Char prices have moved 12–18% within a single quarter twice in the last three years, and a fixed price in a rising market tends to come back as a quality problem rather than a renegotiation.
How to check our numbers
Take your own last 30 days of char receipts: divide total cost by dry tonnes received, then divide by your actual yield. If the result sits outside USD 1,080–1,390 per tonne of finished carbon, the gap is in yield or in fines handling, not in the char price.
Other notes
Send the raw material, target tonnage and finished spec. You get a configuration, a utility schedule and a budget range — not a brochure.