Mysteel News: Domestic UHP Graphite Electrode Cost Goes Up Again

Domestic UHP (ultra-high power) graphite electrode prices remained stable at a high level this week. As of press time, UHP graphite electrode φ450 quoted 26500-27500 yuan/ton, φ600 quoted 28000-29000 yuan/ton, transaction is general.

In terms of downstream, Mysteel surveyed 85 independent EAF steel plants, with an average operating rate of 72.54%, was unchanged month-on-month and down 9.32% year-on-year, among which, East China and Northeast China showed a slight upward trend, while Southwest China showed a slight downward trend. The blast furnace operating rate of 247 steel plants was 81.91%, 0.98% higher than last week and 5.08% lower than last year. With the effective prevention and control of the epidemic, the resumption of domestic blast furnaces has increased, the demand for small and medium-sized UHP graphite electrodes has turned to a temporary recovery, and some transactions have been improved. Affected by demand and profit, electric furnace plants operation is still lower than expected in previous years. Although the epidemic has weakened, some enterprises have replenishment demand, however, on the whole, the demand of the steel market still failed to reach the level of the same period in previous years, and most steel plants still purchase on demand.

In terms of raw materials, Daqing raw coke increased by 500 yuan/ton week-on-week, Jinxi raw coke increased by 400 yuan/ton week-on-week, needle coke prices remained stable at high level. With the rise of raw materials, graphite electrode cost continues to rise. With the help of raw material prices, although the demand of steel market is general, there is a positive support for fully implementing the price rising before. It is expected that domestic UHP graphite electrode price may maintain stable in the short term. Contact us for more graphite electrode market news.