Energoprom, Russia’s largest graphite electrode (GE) producer has announced its plan to build up a new UHP (Ultra High Power) GE furnace at Novocherkassk, Russia.
This facility will allow doubling the company’s premium UHP grade (610 mm) graphite electrode production capacity from 20,000 TPY (tonnes per year) to 35,000 TPY and the kiln is scheduled to start its production in the second half of 2019.
The Energoprom Group had tied up with a Germany based Riedhammer GmbH, a well-known kiln plant manufacturer in the world. As mentioned by Energoprom top official, this new Riedhammer annular kiln will enable the company to significantly improve quality of graphite electrodes and ensure high stability to the production process.
Energoprom group’s Novocherkassk electrode plant is currently capable of producing some 50,000 TPY of mostly UHP and HP (High power) graphite electrodes which will increase to 60,000 TPY after the capacity expansion.
Energoprom Group is a company consolidating Russia’s key carbon manufacturers: Novocherkassk, Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk Electrode Plants, Doncarb Graphite and Aviauglerod.
The Group’s plants manufacture a wide range of products from large-scale serial products (graphite electrodes, carbon electrodes and cathode blocks) to custom manufactured graphite units and construction products made of graphite (chemical equipment, special graphite).
Russia’s GE market and demand for GE across the globe
Russia’s import for graphite electrode stands to be very low as the country has imposed anti-dumping duty on the imports of the same. According to the data with SteelMint, Russia’s GE imports stood at 48,879 tonnes in 2017 with majority share coming from China (42%) followed by Spain (25%) and France (12%). However, the Russian market is abuzz with the news that the demand for graphite electrode is expected to gain ground as the country could lift anti-dumping duty on the imports of GE.
The demand for graphite electrodes has been booming across the world against the backdrop of China’s pollution crackdown. As China tightened the screws last year on polluting industrial plants, about 30% of its graphite electrode production has been shut, leading to an explosion in global prices and benefiting manufacturers elsewhere.
The global graphite electrode manufacturers are not ready to meet the sudden surge in demand as the electrodes production cycle is 4-6 months, while capacity building requires up to two years and huge financial investment. Moreover, there is also a shortage of needle coke in the international market which is the main raw material for graphite electrodes production.
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