The Price Of Graphite Electrodes Rose Slightly, And The Company Continued To Lose Money

The graphite electrode market has been in a situation of weak supply and demand since July. Enterprises are faced with high production costs, but the prices of finished products are low, and production profits are inverted. Most graphite electrode factories have switched to other processing industries, and only a few established companies are struggling to operate. Although the price of graphite electrodes increased by 500-1000 yuan / ton at the end of October, the company still cannot get rid of the loss-making situation.

It can be seen from the graph of graphite electrode price that from January to June 2022, the price of graphite electrode showed a slight upward trend, but after entering July, the price of graphite electrode fell all the way, and the market price increased by 500-1000 yuan / ton until the end of October. Performance. As of early November, the price range of ultra-high power 600MM is 24,500-25,000 yuan/ton, the price range of ultra-high power 700MM is 29,500-30,500 yuan/ton, the price range of high-power 500MM is 21,000-22,500 yuan/ton, and the price range of ordinary power 500MM is 21,000-22,500 yuan/ton. In 18500-20000 yuan / ton. The rise in market quotations was mainly due to the recovery of downstream steel mills and the slight recovery in the demand for external mining of graphite electrodes.

As of the week of October 28, the average operating rate of domestic electric arc furnace steelmaking was 60.46%, an increase of 2.51% month-on-month and a year-on-year decrease of 8.78%. The capacity utilization rate and operating rate continued to increase slightly. Judging from the production situation, the current profit of steel mills is acceptable, and due to the reduction in production and the improvement of downstream demand in the early stage, the current manufacturers' inventory is low, and most manufacturers have increased production time and increased production efforts to increase production. Therefore, the capacity utilization rate and The operating rate is increasing. However, the production of graphite electrodes is operating at a low load. Once the downstream mining demand improves, it will form a positive support for the price of graphite electrodes.

From January to September 2022, the operating rate of graphite electrodes nationwide averaged 45%, down 16 percentage points year-on-year. Since July, the operating rate of graphite electrodes has dropped particularly significantly. By the end of October, the operating rate of graphite electrodes was nearly 23%. Most small enterprises switch to crucible production or graphitization of negative electrodes. Only the old-fashioned enterprises such as Fangda, Pingmei, Jilin Carbon, and Basan Graphite insist on production, mainly to ensure the source of raw materials for fixed cooperation customers.

The gross profit of graphite electrode production has been upside down since July, and the inversion range is -1000 to -2000 yuan / ton. Even if the price of graphite electrode increases by 1000 yuan / ton, it still cannot reverse the current loss-making production state. Therefore, the enthusiasm of production enterprises to start operation is still low.

In the short term, the terminal steel mills start construction or maintain slight fluctuations at the current level, the inventory of graphite electrodes is gradually reduced, and the price-preserving mentality still exists. It is not ruled out that the price of graphite electrodes will still increase slightly. The sluggish state of the steel industry is difficult to change in the short term, and the downstream demand for graphite electrodes has not changed significantly.