GrafTech attempts to lift electrode prices as its losses mount

In the face of weak demand and an “unsustainably low” pricing environment, GrafTech International posted another quarterly loss to close out 2024.

President and CEO Timothy Flanagan highlighted in the latest earnings report that the company continues executing its plan to regain market share.

Its sales volumes of 103,200 metric tons showed a 13% rise year over year. And despite industry-wide headwinds, GrafTech expects “a low double-digit percentage point year-over-year increase” in volumes again this year.

Still, the Brooklyn, Ohio-based graphite electrode producer hasn’t posted a profit since the fourth quarter of 2022. It’s been struggling since it was forced to close its Monterrey, Mexico, facility from September to November of that year. Former CEO Marcel Kessler also stepped down in November 2022; previously CFO, Flanagan has led the company since.

GrafTech is taking measures to improve its order book, he said. An example is a shift in its geographic mix to regions with a better chance of achieving higher average selling prices.

Additionally, the company is increasing its prices by 15% on volumes not yet committed for 2025, said Flanagan.

With geopolitical and economic uncertainty continuing to constrain global steel production, GrafTech expects electrode demand to remain flat in its key regions.

It also repeated what it’s said in previous earnings reports: “Longer term, we remain confident that the steel industry’s efforts to decarbonize will lead to increased adoption of the electric-arc furnace method of steelmaking, driving long-term demand growth for graphite electrodes.”