Price of UHP600 Graphite Electrode Cease to Advance

In the past May, the price rising of graphite electrode continued to slow it pace. Rolled steel price falling and rise of supply became the main stress source. The difficulty of export logistics made things even more complicated.

High-quality UHP 600 graphite electrode rose its price over 100/t in a month(according to the price list of top 5 manufacturer). Meanwhile, most large diameter graphite electrode from other small business hold the line. The main reason is that in the last two weeks of this month, the use ratio of electric arc furnace started to decline because of the diving price of steel, which leads to smaller margin. At the same time, the yield of graphite electrode has a sustainable growth in recent days. A representative from a major Chinese manufacturer expressed that in March and April, the shortage of graphite electrode in market occurred, but multiple companies increased their production in an obvious way. They keep manufacturing and those products will be on market in a month.

Foreign market still have high demand on graphite electrode. Although the EU committee has not published the decision on anti-dumping duty, market participant forecast that it will take at least 5-6 months to publish. The marketing manager of the largest graphite electrode manufacturer in China said,”Europe urgently need graphite electrode from China. They desire it but can not find a ship for it.””The goods purchased months ago is still in transit”.

The foreseeing view of market participant varies largely. Some people believe there will be a price fall recently. The supply over demand and  price control by government will certainly bring more stress. But others hold that with the recovery of global economy, the price will surely go up, not to mention the high-quality products will support the price as it always does.