Raw material prices, processing costs and other factors affect the graphite electrode continued to rise in October

After the National Day, the domestic graphite electrode prices appeared a continuous upward trend, with UHP600mm as an example, compared with the pre-holiday increase of 11.6%. According to many steel plants that are bidding recently, the supply of graphite electrode is beginning to be tight again. 

Main manufacturer graphite electrode quotation (Yuan/ton)

The reason for the increase in the price of graphite electrode is very clear to everyone. The production cost has increased significantly:

• 01 Raw materials continuously up

  From October 1 to date, only the factory price of petroleum coke enterprises has been significantly increased, including: Daqing 1#A petroleum coke cumulative increase of 600 yuan/ton to 5000 yuan/ton, Jinxi 1#B petroleum coke cumulative increase of 800 yuan/ton to 5050 yuan/ton.

• 02 Scope of power restriction is increased

  Graphite electrode graphitization processing is a large power consumer, mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan and other regions. Before the festival, it mainly affects Inner Mongolia and part of Henan, after the festival Shanxi and other regions begin to be affected. At the same time, environmental protection in Hebei has been upgraded, many processing plants have shut down production. Affected by this, the graphitization processing cost also increased, from 4200 yuan/ton in early September to 4500 yuan/ton.

Current status of graphite electrode Market:

Due to the continuous rise of raw material prices and the long production cycle of graphite electrode, the risk of taking goods by manufacturers is increased. At present, the inventory of mainstream graphite electrode manufacturers is still the previous low-cost products, so they begin to be reluctant to sell. Some traders have been hoarding goods in the early stage. Graphite electrode machining plants in some areas also buy a large number of rough products and stock up.

Future forecast:

The recent power rationing situation should continue, the price of raw materials will remain high, graphite electrode market still has room to rise, more graphite electrode news and forecast from us.