Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). And our first question comes from Luke Folta with Longbow Research.
Luke Folta - Longbow Research
Hi. Good morning, guys.
Craig Shular
Good morning, Luke. How are you today?
Luke Folta - Longbow Research
Not bad, not bad. Just firstly on your needle coke statement, the 40 to 50% up is that -- are you referring to aut of 2008 levels?
Craig Shular
Yes. You are correct Luke basically there was very little bought in '09. So it's really off our last real purchases and that would be '08. So they are up about 45 to 50%.
Luke Folta - Longbow Research
Okay. So that would actually suggest that I mean from last time when we spoke I think you were saying about 50%, that would actually suggest you maybe have seen little bit lower needle coke versus earlier expectations is that the right read on that?
Craig Shular
Yeah. I think what the trend I think when we started out the year, the needle coke producers were looking for 90-80% increase and that's come down over time as we proceeded through this year. And 45% increase 50% that's kind of the lower end of the range. So they have come in as expected and maybe little bit lower than what we initially expected and where they started.
Luke Folta - Longbow Research
Okay, and can you tell us in the third quarter how much of last years needle coke was a part I mean as a percentage of your consumption, how much it was last year's?
Craig Shular
I think for Q3, we should think about the majority. The vast majority of Q3 was all low cost coke. And I thing that's the best way to look at it. Q4 the same kind of thing, the vast majority will be the lower cost coke. Obviously we have many different grades and we should think that really Q1 next year will be virtually all newly purchased coke. I think that's the right way to look at it.
Luke Folta - Longbow Research
Okay. And just finally on the pricing for the electrodes, can you give us some feel of direction?
Craig Shular
Well we've gone out with our pricing. In early Q3, we announced the price increase and we posted a 7,795 pricing and as I said we're at the front end of the book building process so it's really too early to give much color around that.
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