Upstream, middle and downstream markets of graphite electrode industry chain analysis

Ⅰ. Industrial chain

Graphite electrode upstream industrial chain is mainly petroleum coke, pitch coke and coal tar pitch; The midstream includes ultra-high power graphite electrode, high power graphite electrode, regular power graphite electrode, carbon brick and special graphite; The downstream steel-making, silicon smelting and yellow phosphorus smelting are carried out through ultra-high power electric arc furnace, high-power electric arc furnace, regular power electric furnace and blast furnace. 

Ⅱ. Upstream analysis

1. Needle coke

Needle coke is a new type of high-quality carbon material with silver gray appearance. In recent years, benefiting from China's economic development, needle coke market demand has been released and the industry scale has expanded accordingly. China's needle coke output has achieved explosive growth, exceeding 700,000 tons in 2021, is expected to continue to grow in 2022, with the output reaching 930,000 tons.

2. Petroleum coke

The capacity utilization rate of petroleum coke is low, but it gradually picks up. Petroleum coke is a by-product of petroleum refining industry, and it has no concept of production capacity itself. Petroleum coke output basically depends on the output of petroleum refining industry. In June 2022, the national petroleum coke production was 2.489 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.8%. From January to June 2022, China's petroleum coke production was 14.722 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1%.

Ⅲ. Midstream analysis

China is the world's largest supplier of graphite electrodes and suffers from overcapacity. In 2021, China's graphite electrode production capacity reached 1.717 million tons, accounting for 65% of the global supply. However, the actual output is only 1.009 million tons, with a corresponding capacity utilization rate of 59%. Although it is significantly improved compared with 2020, it is still at a low level.

Ⅳ. Downstream analysis

Steel smelting is the main application field of graphite electrode, accounting for about 80% of the total consumption of graphite electrode. Followed by yellow phosphorus and silicon smelting, accounting for 4.8% and 4.1% respectively. For more information about the graphite electrode Market in August, please consult us in detail.