Since 2017, with the rapid increase in steel price, EAF steelmaking has achieved huge economic benefits. Electric furnace steelmaking has a large demand for high-power graphite electrodes and ultra-high power graphite electrodes. Therefore, the graphite electrode market is booming in 2017 and continues to develop in 2018. What is the trend of international graphite market?
1. China Graphite electrode market
In 2017, China’s total output of electric arc furnaces was about 120 million tons, and the output of graphite electrode was 590,900 tons, of which 237,300 tons were exported to the international market. This means that domestic graphite electrode consumption is 353,600 tons, which is only 3.06 % higher than the previous year.
China’s steel industry reform has eliminated small-scale steel plants with low output and high energy consumption. The proportion of electric furnace steel is expected to increase rapidly in the future. Another positive factor is that steel prices remain at a high level, and steel electrode consumption in steel mills will continue to grow in 2019.
2. International graphite electrode market
In recent years, due to the economic crisis, the international economic growth rate has slowed down. According to the data, six internationally renowned graphite electrode manufacturers have closed their factories, and some manufacturers have even removed equipment. Therefore, it is difficult for these factories to restart production. In 2018, the international graphite electrode market supply and demand gap was 200,000 tons. Therefore, there is a great demand for high pressure graphite electrodes and ultra high pressure graphite electrodes in foreign markets.
Graphite electrodes have a long production cycle, and there is a certain lag between supply and labeling requirements, generally 3-4 months. The pressure of environmental protection is enormous. In China, the output of graphite electrodes will not increase rapidly in the short term, and international manufacturers do not have enough capacity to meet market demand. Therefore, in the short term, at least in 2019, the supply of international graphite electrodes is insufficient. The price will remain stable.
