Graphitized Carbon Additive Market Analysis: Strong Raw Material Support Constrained by Downstream Caution

I. Rising Raw Material Costs Form Price Support

The core support for current graphitized carbon additive prices stems from the sustained upward trend in upstream raw material costs. Petroleum coke, the primary raw material for carbon additives—particularly low-sulfur petroleum coke—is expected to maintain strong market performance. By 2026, domestic petroleum coke production will increase in tandem with downstream demand for anodes and carbon products. Meanwhile, imports of medium- and low-sulfur grade materials will see limited growth. This supply-demand mismatch is driving prices upward through volatility, indirectly bolstering carbon additive production costs.

The rise in raw material prices directly impacts midstream processing, significantly increasing cost pressures for graphitized carbon additive producers. To maintain reasonable profit margins, companies have a strong incentive to raise prices, forming the core logic behind the current market's resistance to downward price movements.

II. Downstream Demand Remains Steady but Under Pressure, with Market Transactions Dominated by Wait-and-See Sentiment

Demand from downstream steel and foundry industries remains stable, but widespread wait-and-see sentiment acts as a key constraint on significant price increases. As the core consumer sector for carbon additives, the steel industry is expected to continue facing weak demand. Factors such as compressed steel mill profits and production restrictions have led most mills to maintain just-in-time procurement, with strong price-cutting intentions and limited acceptance of high carbon additive prices. While the foundry sector benefits from structural demand growth driven by automotive lightweighting and high-end equipment manufacturing, overall market sentiment remains cautious. End-users are replenishing inventories at low levels only as needed, with insufficient willingness for proactive stockpiling.

III. Intensified Market Dynamics Point to Volatile Trends Ahead

Considering both supply and demand, the graphitized carbon additive market is currently caught between cost support and demand constraints, with prices likely to fluctuate within a narrow range in the short term. On the cost side, expectations of sustained strong petroleum coke prices will continue to underpin carbon additive pricing. On the demand side, production may decline under precise capacity and output controls in the steel industry. However, the fundamental pattern of weak demand is unlikely to change, and market caution is expected to persist in the near term.

Future market focus should center on fluctuations in petroleum coke prices, changes in steel mill operating rates, and the impact of environmental policies on production capacity. These factors will dictate marginal shifts in the supply-demand landscape.

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