With the rapid development of China’s iron and steel, metal silicon and other industries in recent years, the demand for graphite electrodes in China has continued to increase. In addition, the support and guidance of Chinese policies to replace converter steelmaking with electric arc furnace short-process steelmaking has further promoted the market for graphite electrodes. With the rapid growth of demand, the output of graphite electrodes in China has also increased year by year. According to data, China’s graphite electrode output in 2021 will be 1.009 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 31.7%.
From the perspective of output structure distribution, due to the support of national policies, the output ratio of China’s ultra-high-power graphite electrodes has steadily increased in recent years. According to data, in 2021, the output of ultra-high-power graphite electrodes in China will be 619,000 tons, accounting for 61%, the output of high-power graphite electrodes will be 259,000 tons, accounting for 26%, and the output of ordinary power graphite electrodes will be 132,000 tons. The proportion is 13%.
From the perspective of graphite electrode consumption structure, in 2020, China’s graphite electrode consumption will account for 43% of exports, and the demand for graphite electrodes in the iron and steel industry will account for about 41%. Among them, electric furnace smelting mainly uses ultra-high-power graphite electrodes, and out-of-furnace refining Ultra-high-power and high-power graphite electrodes are mainly used; metal silicon, yellow phosphorus, and calcium carbide are smelted using ordinary power graphite electrodes, accounting for 12%, 3%, and 1% of the demand for graphite electrodes.
Graphite electrodes are necessary consumables for electric arc steelmaking. With China’s strong support for electric arc furnace short-process steelmaking in recent years, short-process steelmaking, that is, electric furnace steelmaking, will become an important trend in the future. High-quality steel and special steel are also smelted by electric furnaces. It is an important measure to increase the proportion of electric furnace steel in China’s transformation from a big iron and steel country to a strong iron and steel country. In addition, ultra-high-power graphite electrodes have the characteristics of high efficiency, less pollution, and lower costs, which are more in line with China’s environmental protection requirements for energy conservation and consumption reduction, and will be more favored by the market. The growing demand will promote the development of China’s graphite electrode industry .
