In 2026, the manufacturing industries in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia continued to expand, and the two major sectors simultaneously drove the import of graphite consumables: Firstly, a large number of distributed photovoltaic projects were started with the batch construction of all-vanadium liquid flow energy storage power stations; Secondly, the production capacity of aluminum alloy casting and recycled aluminum smelting continued to shift, and the demand for specialized graphite components for molten aluminum saw an explosive growth. Customs data shows that in the first half of the year, the trade volume of graphite products imported by Southeast Asia from China increased by 67.2% year-on-year, becoming the region with the fastest growth rate of graphite consumables in the world.
Southeast Asia lacks the processing capabilities for high-purity graphite powder, and the graphite mixers, graphite crucibles and graphite inserts used in the aluminum alloy smelting process are highly dependent on imports. The molten aluminum process operates at a high temperature of 700–950°C for a long time, and ordinary low-purity graphite is prone to aluminum leakage, corrosion and fracture problems. Local casting enterprises prefer high-density graphite components with SiC anti-aluminum leakage coatings, which can effectively reduce the frequency of downtime and maintenance and reduce the defect rate of castings.
In the hydrogen energy sector, enterprises in the region mainly produce 1–30kW air-cooled hydrogen fuel cells, mainly for port forklifts and island independent power supply equipment. Due to budget constraints, buyers prefer powder-molded graphite bipolar plates and reject high-priced pure isostatic milling plates. The purchasing groups in Southeast Asia generally have three characteristics: high price sensitivity, requiring 5–7 days of rapid delivery, and supporting small-batch samples. The extrusion production lines for powder-molded graphite powder without heavy asset investment can flexibly respond to small orders and highly match the market demands in Southeast Asia.
The demand structure is clearly divided: Energy storage enterprises mainly purchase PTFE impregnated anti-corrosion graphite plates; Aluminum alloy casting and melting factories continue to purchase graphite mixers, graphite material cylinders and graphite diversion cones. The vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises in Southeast Asia are reluctant to cooperate with large domestic graphite enterprises, and the sample threshold of leading factories is high and the payment period is long; Small and medium-sized private graphite factories prefer the cooperative model of cash on delivery, spot production and flexible sampling, which is more popular.
Industry estimates show that by the end of 2026, the total import volume of high-temperature-resistant graphite consumables in Southeast Asia will continue to rise. For domestic export manufacturers, simultaneously developing two product lines of energy storage graphite plates and molten aluminum graphite components can fully cover the two customer groups of the local new energy and casting industries, forming a differentiated competitive advantage. Leveraging the trade policy benefits of RCEP, the shipping time is stable, and further consolidating the dominant position of Chinese graphite products in the Southeast Asian market.
