Graphite electrode market undercurrent surging

• From the perspective of supply, due to the impact of the Winter Olympic Games, the electrode processing plants in Hebei have been basically shut down, and the baking furnaces in Shanxi except Yuncheng will also be shut down from January 30 to March 13, thus reducing the supply of market resources. At the same time, with the international oil price hit a 3-year high, the domestic petroleum coke price has continued to rise by 200-300 yuan/ton recently. In addition, some electrode graphitization has been converted to negative electrode graphitization, and the price focus of graphite electrode continues to move upward.  

• From the perspective of demand, although the shutdown of EAF steel plants has increased recently, they basically belong to the expected seasonal shutdown, while the blast furnaces of many long process steel plants have resumed production in succession, and the demand for graphite electrode has not actually weakened. According to the current situation, most of the electric furnace steel plants that stopped production during the Spring Festival are expected to resume production after February 15 (about 30 days of shutdown). The new electric furnaces of Anhui Hongtai, Wu'an Xinhui and other steel plants have also been put into operation recently, coupled with the uncertainty of epidemic situation, there may be a mismatch between supply and demand in electrode market after the festival, the price is expected to rise steadily, contacting us to get the latest graphite electrode maket news.