Closures of synthetic graphite electrode with Chinese production reported to be down by 20% in February before seeing some recovery in March and April. Major chinese producers like Aohui carbon company is successful to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
low demand from the steel industry is expected to continue to hamper SGE output levels, with major electric arc furnace (EAF) producers in China remaining shut.
Aohui is famous graphite product manufacturer, we are the exclusive electrode product used in crude steel production via EAF, as well as being used in ferroalloy manufacturing.
China is the largest consumer and its increasing demand has shaped the industry in recent years. The increasing availability of steel scrap has allowed greater production of steel by EAF across Asia; however, China’s shift to EAF was given a boost by major changes in the country’s steel industry that effectively halted all steel production by induction furnace from January 2017. Since then, the proportion of steel produced by EAF in China has shot up, increasing from just 6% in 2015/16 to 13% by 2019, and with the potential to rise to 20% by the second half of this decade.
The latest steel forecasts (which take into account the initial effects of COVID-19 on global demand), however, expect overall crude steel production to decline slightly this year, with growth in China pretty much flat, before seeing recovery in the coming years. Global crude steel growth to 2030 is expected to remain at less than 1%py. Despite lower overall levels in steel growth, the long-term forecast for SGEs remains positive as a result of the continued shift to EAF steel in China.
Post time: Jun-17-2020