Other Elements and Materials

Chinese Graphite Electrode Prices Registers Sharp Drop amid Increased Competition

Chinese Graphite Electrode Prices Registers Sharp Drop amid Increased Competition
Mining News Pro - According to SteelMint sources, the graphite electrode (GE) prices in China have registered a dramatic decline over past few days amid aggressive selling by the country’s domestic GE producers.
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According to Mining News Pro - According to SteelMint sources, the graphite electrode (GE) prices in China have registered a dramatic decline over past few days amid aggressive selling by the country’s domestic GE producers.

The prevailing prices for 450mm UHP graphite electrode are being heard in the range of RMB 45,000 – 48,000/MT (USD 6,600 – 7,050/MT), 600mm UHP graphite electrode are at RMB 70,000-90,000/MT (USD 10,300 – 13,200/MT) and 700mm UHP graphite electrode are in the range of RMB 100,000-120,000/MT (USD 14,700 – 17,600/MT).

In case of 450mm UHP grade graphite electrodes, the prices slumped by 36% whereas 600mm GE prices plunged by 31% against the first week of Aug’18.

As per the market sources, the GE demand slowed down a bit in the month of August resulting which the producers started selling their output quite aggressively leading to increased competition in the market and dramatic decline in the prices. However, now the producers have decided to coordinate with each other and better sense will prevail in the market with prices becoming stable. For the month of September, with no dearth of GE demand in China and coordinated efforts of the graphite electrode manufacturers, the GE prices are likely to remain stable. However, in late September there is mid-Autumn festival holiday before which stocking of graphite electrodes will increase which may lead to the revival in the prices.

Plunge in needle coke prices

On the raw material side, Needle coke prices have also declined by RMB 2,000 – 4,000/MT (USD 295– 590/MT) this week. Currently, the domestic prices of needle coke for graphite electrode are heard at RMB 23,000 – 28,000/MT (USD 3,374 – 4,100/MT) whereas imported needle coke prices offer are at USD 3,900-4,200/MT.

Inthe case of needle coke producers, Jinzhou Petrochemical`s needle coke production is same as every month. The company has taken measures to control the content of sulphur and keeps monitoring the quality of finished products to ensure continuous supplies of needle coke to the downstream customers. Another manufacturer, Heilongjiang Baotelong however continues to carry out the maintenance work and its operations are expected to resume in late August.

Baosteel Chemical`s production has remained almost stable this month however, it has increased the production of raw needle coke lately. As per the market sources, the company is likely to raise its raw needle coke price by RMB 1,000/MT (USD 146/MT) next month. Baosteel’s phase two project with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year needle coke has entered land construction stage, which is expected to be completed by December 30, 2018 and start production in early 2019.

China`s crackdown on illegal steel is causing a maintained shift toward electric furnace use. Since this involves a switch from operations using molten iron to those using iron scrap, there is significant demand targeting electrodes for high-durability, high-quality products. With the increased requirement for graphite electrodes, the demand for its raw material- needle coke is also increasing which is further supporting the global needle coke demand.






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