With continued favorable conditions for both upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, my country’s carbon electrode market has shown a situation of rising supply and demand.

Carbon electrode, also known as carbon electrode, refers to the general term for electrodes composed of element carbon. According to different raw materials, carbon electrodes can be divided into four categories: artificial graphite electrodes, natural graphite electrodes, carbon electrodes, and special carbon electrodes. Carbon electrodes have the characteristics of good electrical and thermal conductivity, strong heat resistance, strong corrosion resistance, high mechanical strength, good self-lubricating properties, and good low temperature resistance. They are widely used in petroleum, metallurgy, chemical industry, photovoltaic, aerospace, medical, energy, and electricity. It is widely used in fields such as chemistry.

From the upstream of the industrial chain, carbon electrodes are carbon products prepared from petroleum coke, graphite chips, coal pitch, calcined anthracite, etc. through ingredients, molding, roasting, processing and other links. Among them, my country’s anthracite output has reached 380 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%; coal pitch output has reached 7.567 million tons. The sufficient supply of upstream raw materials has laid a good foundation for the development of my country’s carbon electrode industry. At present, my country has become one of the largest countries in carbon electrode production in the world. According to the“Research on Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects of China’s Carbon Electrode Industry in 2022-2026″ released by the Industrial Research Center Report” shows that domestic carbon electrode production in 2021 has exceeded 2.80 million tons.

At present, while my country’s carbon electrode production meets domestic market demand, it is also exported in large quantities abroad. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, my country’s carbon electrode export volume in 2021 will be 2.341 million tons, with an export value of US$2.51 billion; import volume will be 1,000 tons, with an import value of US$60 million. At present, my country has become the world’s largest exporter of carbon electrodes, and the import and export market shows a trade surplus.

From the downstream of the industrial chain, carbon electrodes are mainly used as conductive electrodes in submerged arc furnaces and electric arc furnaces, and play an important role in the smelting process of ferroalloys, industrial silicon, calcium carbide, corundum, yellow phosphorus and other metal or non-metallic substances. Compared with traditional conductive material electrode paste, carbon electrode has the advantages of green environmental protection, energy saving and emission reduction, and enhanced smelting. It has been widely used in the field of industrial silicon smelting in my country. At the same time, it is used in the smelting of non-metallic substances such as calcium carbide and yellow phosphorus. The market penetration rate in the field is constantly increasing.

In 2021, my country’s industrial silicon output has reached 3.255 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 27.4%. Industrial silicon is an important raw material for electronic information, new energy and other industries. At present, my country’s industrial silicon output shows a continuous growth trend, and carbon electrodes are used as industrial silicon production equipment. The market demand for the key conductive electrodes in hot furnaces continues to increase. In 2021, my country’s calcium carbide production has reached 29.946 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. In the future, as the penetration rate of carbon electrodes in the field of calcium carbide production continues to increase, its market demand is expected to maintain a sustained growth trend, and the industry development prospects are good.

Industry analysts said that carbon electrodes are important in the production processes of industrial silicon, calcium carbide, ferroalloys, etc. High-temperature conductive materials, and industrial silicon, calcium carbide, and iron-gold ore are important basic materials in my country’s chemical industry, photovoltaics, medical, semiconductor, medical and other fields. In recent years, under the background of the rapid development of carbon electrode terminal applications, their market demand has continued to increase. . At the same time, against the backdrop of increasing domestic production of anthracite, coal pitch, etc., the carbon electrode market is well supplied and production continues to increase. Overall, the current domestic carbon electrode market is showing a situation of rising supply and demand, and the industry has good development prospects. In the future, driven by the continued growth of domestic and export market demand, the domestic carbon electrode industry has huge development potential.