Monthly review: wait-and-see sentiment increased in April, graphite electrode quotes continued to rise

In April, the domestic graphite electrode market prices continued to rise, with UHP450mm and 600mm rising by 12.8% and 13.2% respectively.
Market aspect

In the early stage, due to the dual control of energy efficiency in Inner Mongolia from January to March and the power cut in Gansu and other regions, the graphite electrode graphitization process had a serious bottleneck. Until about mid-April, the local graphitization started slightly improved, but the capacity release was only 50%. -70%. As we all know, Inner Mongolia is the center of graphitization in China. This time, the dual-control has some influence on the release of semi-processed graphite electrode manufacturers. At the same time, it has also led to an increase in the price of graphitization, from 3000 -4000 range. Affected by the centralized maintenance of raw materials and the high cost of delivery in April, mainstream electrode manufacturers increased their product prices substantially twice in early and mid-to-late April, and the third and fourth echelon manufacturers slowly kept up in late April. Although the actual transaction prices were still somewhat favorable, But the gap has narrowed.

Export side

From the feedback of traders, due to the impact of EU anti-dumping adjustments, the recent overseas purchase orders are relatively large, but many are still under negotiation. The order time has not yet been determined. It is expected that domestic exports will increase significantly in April-May .

As of April 29, the mainstream price of UHP450mm specifications with 30% needle coke content on the market is 195,000 yuan/ton, up 300 yuan/ton from last week, and the mainstream price of UHP600mm specifications is 25,000-27,000 yuan/ton, up The price of UHP700mm is 1500 yuan/ton, and the price of UHP700mm is maintained at 30000-32000 yuan/ton.

Raw materials

In April, the price of raw materials rose steadily. Jinxi raised 300 yuan/ton at the beginning of the month, while Dagang and Fushun were undergoing centralized maintenance. As of the end of April, the quotation of Fushun Petrochemical 1#A petroleum coke remained at 5,200 yuan/ton, and the price of low-sulfur calcined coke was 5600-5800 yuan/ton, up 500 yuan/ton from March.

Domestic needle coke prices remained stable in April. At present, the mainstream prices of domestic coal-based and oil-based products are 8500-11000 yuan/ton.

Steel plant aspect

On April 27, when the China Iron and Steel Association held its first quarter 2021 information release conference in Beijing, it pointed out that according to the current development of the industry, there are several directions for the steel industry’s carbon peak:

The first is to strictly control new production capacity and control output;
The second is to carry out structural adjustments and eliminate backward ones;
The third is to further reduce energy consumption and increase energy utilization;
The fourth is to accelerate the research and development of innovative ironmaking and other new processes and technologies;
The fifth is to carry out research on carbon capture, utilization and storage;
Sixth, develop high-quality, long-life steel;
Seventh, develop electric furnace steel appropriately.

Domestic steel prices continued to rise in April. As of April 29, the average production cost of grade 3 rebar in domestic independent electric furnace steel plants was 4,761 yuan/ton, and the average profit was 390 yuan/ton.