ICC China Graphite Electrode Price Index ( July)
This week domestic graphite electrode prices have a small pullback trend. Market: last week, the domestic first-line steel mills centralized bidding, the price of graphite electrode generally appeared loose, this week the external market quotation has different degrees of adjustment, ranging from 1000-2500 CNY/ton, the overall market transaction is relatively light.
There are two main factors influencing this price drop: One is in June, is the domestic traditional hong kong-listed, due to the large from gains in the first half of the steel, beginning in June for a sharp diving, electric steel margins from before the highest 800 CNY/ton fell to zero point, some mini-mill began to losses, even cause a downturn of the electric steel starts gradually, the graphite electrode decreased purchasing; Two is the current spot sales of graphite electrode on the market, manufacturers have a certain profit, by the impact of the early petroleum coke raw materials fell sharply, has a certain impact on the mentality of the market, so as long as the “wind and grass move”, the market is not lack of follow the trend of price reduction.
As of July 8, the mainstream price of UHP450mm with 30% needle coke in the market is 19,500-20,000 CNY/ton; the mainstream price of UHP600mm is 24,000-26,000 CNY/ton, down 1,000 CNY/ton compared with last week; the price of UHP700mm is 28,000-30,000 CNY/ton, down 2,000 CNY/ton.
From Raw materials
As of this Thursday, Daqing and Fushun cokes are basically stable. Now Daqing Petrochemical 1#A petroleum coke offers 3100 CNY/ton, Fushun Petrochemical 1#A petroleum coke offers 3100 CNY/ton, and low sulfur calcine coke offers 4100-4300 CNY/ton, up 100 CNY/ton compared with last week. This week, the price of domestic needle coke is stable, but the actual transaction price is somewhat loose. At present, the mainstream price of domestic coal and oil products is 8000-11000 CNY/ton, down 500-1000 CNY/ton compared with last week, and the transaction is relatively light.
From Steel Plant
This week, domestic steel prices have rebounded, the range of 100 CNY/ton or so, the transaction situation has improved, coupled with the announcement of some steel production limit plan, traders confidence has recovered. After 5, 6 months of continuous adjustment, the current majority of steel mills construction steel profits have been near the break-even, whether it is electric furnace or blast furnace, active limit production maintenance began to increase, in order to maintain the relative balance of market supply and demand. As of Thursday, the capacity utilization rate of 92 independent electric furnace steel mills was 79.04%, 2.83% higher than last week, after the resumption of production of some electric furnace steel mills that had stopped production before the deadline.
Market outlook forecast
There is not much room for price reduction of petroleum coke in the later period, and the price of needle coke is relatively stable due to the impact of cost. The first echelon of graphite electrode manufacturers basically maintain full production, but the tight graphite chemical order in the market will continue, and the processing costs remain high. The production cycle of graphite electrode is long, and with the support of high cost in the later stage, the space for the market price of graphite electrode to fall is also limited.
Post time: Jul-09-2021