【Market Research】China's Graphite Electrode Market Current Situation and Prospects (with production & consumption volume, consumption structure, export, etc.)

Graphite electrode is mainly used in iron and steel smelting. The development of China's graphite electrode industry is basically consistent with the modernization process of China's iron and steel industry. China's graphite electrode started in the 1950s, and has gone through three stages of development since its generation: starting in 1995 and mass production in 2011 as the bottom stage; In the second stage, the enterprise differentiation intensified in 2013, and the market significantly improved in 2017. In the third stage, a downward trajectory in 2018, followed by a price war in 2019. Since 2020, with the decline and stability of graphite electrode prices, the demand for graphite electrodes in China's domestic electric furnace steelmaking has steadily increased, the market concentration has steadily increased, and the industry has gradually matured. 

1. Industry policy

In 2020, the NDRC issued the Guiding Opinions on Expanding Investment in Strategic Emerging Industries, Cultivating and Expanding New Growth Points and Growth Poles, speeding up breakthroughs in fields such as corrosion-resistant materials, implementing the Action Plan for innovative development of new materials, and upgrading the technical level of rare earth, vanadium titanium, lithium, graphite and other specialized resources in mining, smelting, and deep processing. In 2021, the NDRC issued the "Special Management Measures for Investment in the Central Budget for Pollution Control, Energy Conservation, and Emission Reduction", which treats all types of investment entities equally in accordance with the principles of science, democracy, fairness, and efficiency. Focusing on achieving emission peak and carbon neutrality, the NDRC has arranged special funds to support local resource conservation and environmental protection infrastructure capacity building since the "11th Five Year Plan", Continue to make overall arrangements for investment support funds within the central budget for pollution control, energy conservation and carbon reduction.

2. Production

With the rapid development of China's steel making and silicon metal industries in recent years, the demand for graphite electrodes has been increasing. The guidance of China's policies on electric furnace steelmaking has driven the rapid growth of graphite electrode market demand. According to data,  China's graphite electrodes production was about 1 million tons in 2021, with a year-on-year growth of about 20%. In 2025, the production is expected to reach 2 million tons.

3. Production structure distribution

From the perspective of production structure distribution, China's UHP graphite electrode production was about 620000 tons, accounting for about 61%; HP graphite electrodes was about 260000 tons, accounting for 26%; RP graphite electrodes was about 130000 tons, accounting for 13%.

4. Consumption

With the increasing downstream demand, China's graphite electrodes consumption was also increasing. In 2021, China's graphite electrode consumption was about 670,000 tons, with a year-on-year increase of about 13%. It is expected to continue to increase to 1 million tons in 2023.

5. Consumption structure distribution

From the perspective of consumption structure, China's graphite electrode exports accounted for about 43%, the steel industry demand accounted for about 41%; UHP graphite electrode is mainly used in electric furnace smelting, and UHP and HP graphite electrode is mainly used in external refining. The demand of RP graphite electrode for smelting metal silicon, yellow phosphorus, and calcium carbide is 12%, 3%, and 1%, respectively.

6. Export situation

In general, China's graphite electrode export volume shows an upward trend. In 2021, the graphite electrode export volume was about 430000 tons, with an export value of about $1 billion. It is expected that the export volume will increase to 480000 tons in 2023, and the export value will increase by $1.5 billion.

Russia, Turkey and South Korea account for 12%, 9% and 7% of China's graphite electrode export respectively. For more information on graphite electrode market policies, welcome to contact us.