EAF News & Events

The company said, "In 2025, global, excluding China, steel production was relatively flat compared to 2024, as geopolitical uncertainty, particularly as it relates to global trade and tariffs, had a significant impact on broader steel industry trends. In addition, steel exports from China reached a record high in 2025, further constraining steel production in the rest of the world. As we enter 2026, industry analyst projections indicate a modest recovery in global steel demand is expected for the year. In the U.S., where the steel industry has experienced relative stability, steel production is expected to increase further in the near-term, supported by favorable domestic trade policies. In the European Union, where the steel industry has been relatively challenged, we continue to see signs of a potential recovery. In addition to the anticipated growth in steel demand within the European Union in 2026, steel production in Europe is expected to be further supported by increased trade protections as we proceed through the year. Reflecting these dynamics, hot-rolled coil steel pricing is expected to increase in 2026 in most regions. As we closely monitor these developments and assess their potential impact on the commercial environment for graphite electrodes, we currently project that global demand for graphite electrodes will increase slightly in 2026, compared to 2025, including projected demand increases within all of the key regions in which we operate. For GrafTech, we expect to achieve a 5%-10% year-over-year increase in our sales volume for 2026 on a full-year basis, as we continue to gain market share reflecting our compelling customer value proposition and our ongoing focus on delivering on the needs of our customers. Of our anticipated 2026 sales volume, to date, we have approximately 65% committed in our order book following the completion of the customer negotiations that occur in the fourth quarter of each year. Specific to the first quarter of 2026, we expect a year-over-year increase in our sales volume of approximately 10%. While we are encouraged by our ongoing strong volume performance, industry-wide pricing levels remain unsustainably low. Challenging pricing dynamics, most notably aggressive competitor pricing behavior, increased further during the fourth quarter of 2025 and we expect that pressure to continue into 2026. As a result, we will continue to execute actions to accelerate our path to normalized levels of profitability and support our ability to invest in our business. This includes further optimizing our order book by continuing to shift the geographic mix of our sales volume to regions where there is an opportunity to capture higher average selling prices, particularly in the United States, while also maintaining our disciplined approach of foregoing volume opportunities where margins are unacceptably low. As it relates to costs, we will continue to expand on our initiatives to improve our cost structure. With our 2025 cost performance, we have achieved a cumulative decline in our cash cost of goods sold per metric ton of 31% since the end of 2023. As we look to implement additional measures to enhance the efficiency of our production schedules and further optimize production costs, we expect to build on this achievement with a low single-digit percentage-point decline in our cash cost of goods sold per MT for 2026 compared to 2025. Further, we will continue to prudently manage our working capital levels and capital expenditures. For 2026, reflecting our anticipated volume growth, we expect a modest increase in our net working capital levels for the full year, most notably in the first half of the year reflecting the timing of planned plant maintenance and other timing factors. We anticipate our FY26 capital expenditures will be approximately $35M, which we believe is an adequate level to maintain our assets at current utilization levels."

Reports Q4 revenue $116M, consensus $140M. "Looking back on 2025, I am proud of how our team navigated a challenging environment with discipline and determination," said Timothy Flanagan, CEO and President. "We achieved notable successes, including a 6% increase in our full-year sales volume despite a flat demand environment globally, led by 48% sales volume growth in the United States. In addition, we achieved an 11% year-over-year reduction in our cash cost of goods sold per metric ton for 2025. These impressive results reflect our ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of our customers and achieving operational excellence to control production costs. We ended 2025 with liquidity of $340M, enabling us to maintain stability, despite the persistence of industry-wide challenges, and positioning GrafTech for future growth."

The company said, "Geopolitical uncertainty, particularly as it relates to global trade and tariffs, continues to have a significant impact on broader steel industry trends. In the U.S., where the steel industry has experienced relative stability, steel production is expected to increase further in the near-term, supported by favorable domestic trade policies. In the European Union, where the steel industry has been relatively challenged, we are beginning to see signs of a potential recovery. These include industry analysts projecting steel demand growth in 2026 within the European Union, with steel production in Europe expected to be further supported by recently announced trade protections. As we closely monitor these developments and assess their potential impact on the commercial environment for graphite electrodes, we continue to expect full-year 2025 demand for graphite electrodes will remain relatively flat in most of the regions in which we operate. For GrafTech, we now expect to achieve an 8%-10% year-over-year increase in our sales volume for 2025 on a full-year basis, as we continue to gain market share reflecting our compelling customer value proposition and our ongoing focus on delivering on the needs of our customers. The modest change from our previous guidance of a 10% year-over-year increase in sales volume reflects our disciplined approach of foregoing volume opportunities where margins are unacceptably low. As it relates to price, challenging pricing dynamics have persisted in most regions and the pricing environment remains unsustainably low. As a result, we continue to execute actions to accelerate our path to normalized levels of profitability while the market recovers and support our ability to invest in our business. These include initiatives to optimize our order book and actively shift the geographic mix of our sales volume to regions where there is an opportunity to capture higher average selling prices, particularly in the United States. In response to our revised sales volume outlook, we have implemented additional measures to enhance the efficiency of our production schedules and further optimize production costs. As a result, we now expect an approximate 10% year-over-year decline in our cash cost of goods sold per MT for 2025 on a full-year basis, exceeding our previous guidance of a 7-9% decline compared to 2024. Regarding the impact of tariffs, we believe we are well-positioned to minimize the potential impacts imposed by current trade policies, reflecting our integrated and global production network that provides us manufacturing flexibility along with proactive measures we have taken across our supply chain. In addition, we will continue to closely manage our working capital levels and capital expenditures. For 2025, we continue to expect the net impact of working capital will be favorable to our full year cash flow performance. We also continue to anticipate our FY25 capital expenditures will be approximately $40M. 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. We also anticipate the demand for petroleum needle coke, the key raw material we use to produce graphite electrodes, to accelerate driven by its utilization in producing synthetic graphite for use in lithium-ion batteries for the growing electric vehicle market. We believe that the near-term actions we are taking, supported by an industry-leading position and our sustainable competitive advantages, including our substantial vertical integration into petroleum needle coke via our Seadrift facility, will optimally position GrafTech to benefit from that long-term growth."