European steel producers using electric arc furnaces (EAF) may invest higher costs in their production lines due to recent conflicts between Chinese synthetic graphite electrode exporters and European manufacturers.
About 41% of European (EU27+UK) crude steel is produced through electric arc furnaces, recycled scrap products will be used more and synthetic graphite electrodes are required, which can not be replaced by other types of carbon electrodes with lower performance.
According to market research firm Roskilde, it is uncertain how much the cost could rise due to the stalemate in Central Europe. However, the increase is not expected to reach the level of a serious global electrode shortage in 2017/2018, as demand in China suddenly soared and environmental protection factories in Asian countries closed.
But fluctuations in the electrode market may prompt consumers to be cautious and store early, especially at a time when global demand for steel is growing, recovering from the epidemic. In a recent analysis, Roskilde predicts that EAF production in Europe will grow 7.0% in 2021, compared with 6.3% worldwide.
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- [Editor:wenxin]
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