Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Introduction
GrafTech International Ltd., founded in 1886 and incorporated in Delaware, is a leading manufacturer of high-quality graphite electrode products essential to the production of electric arc furnace ("EAF") steel and other ferrous and non-ferrous metals. We believe that we have the most competitive portfolio of low-cost ultra-high power (“UHP”) graphite electrode manufacturing facilities in the industry, including three of the highest capacity facilities in the world. We have graphite electrode manufacturing facilities in Calais, France, Pamplona, Spain, Monterrey, Mexico and St. Marys, Pennsylvania. We are the only large scale graphite electrode producer that is substantially vertically integrated into petroleum needle coke, our key raw material for graphite electrode manufacturing. This unique position provides us with competitive advantages in product quality and cost.
Our only reportable segment, Industrial Materials, is comprised of two major product categories: graphite electrodes and petroleum needle coke products. Our vision is to provide highly engineered graphite electrode products, services and solutions to EAF operators. Based on the high-quality of our graphite electrodes, reliability of our petroleum needle coke supply and our excellent customer service, we believe that we are viewed as a preferred supplier to the global EAF steel producer market.
Our production capacity is approximately 200 thousand metric tons ("MT") 1 through our primary manufacturing facilities in Calais, Pamplona and Monterrey.
Our principal executive offices are located at 982 Keynote Circle, Brooklyn Heights, Ohio 44131 and our telephone number is (216) 676‑2000. Our website address is www.graftech.com. Information on, or accessible through, our website is not part of this Annual Report. We have included our website address only as an inactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website.
Products and Raw Materials
Graphite Electrodes
Graphite electrodes are an industrial consumable product used primarily in EAF steel production, one of the two primary methods of steel production and the steelmaking technology used by all “mini‑mills.” Electrodes act as conductors of electricity in the furnace, generating sufficient heat to melt scrap metal, iron ore or other raw materials used to produce steel or other metals. We estimate that, on average, the cost of graphite electrodes represents less than 5% of the total production cost of steel in a typical EAF, but they are essential to EAF steel production. Graphite electrodes are currently the only known commercially available products that have the high levels of electrical conductivity and the capability to sustain the high levels of heat generated in EAF steel production. As a result, EAF steel manufacturers require a reliable supply of high-quality graphite electrodes. Graphite electrodes are also used in steel refining in ladle furnaces and in other processes, such as the production of titanium dioxide, stainless steel, silicon metals and other ferrous and non‑ferrous metals.
With the growth of EAF steel production, graphite electrode production has become focused on the manufacturing of UHP electrodes, which have low electrical resistivity and strong durability to maximize efficient use of electricity in the EAF and minimize electrode consumption. The production of UHP electrodes requires an extensive proprietary manufacturing process and material science knowledge, including the use of higher quality needle coke blends. We manufacture graphite electrodes ranging in size up to 30 inches (750 millimeters) in diameter, over 11 feet (3,400 millimeters) in length, and weighing as much as 5,900 pounds (2.6 MT). We also manufacture corresponding sizes of graphite connecting pins, which are used by customers to connect and fasten graphite electrodes together in a column for use in an EAF. For the past several years, all of our connecting pin production was performed at our Monterrey, Mexico facility. However, we are pursuing alternatives with respect to the production and sourcing of connecting pins to reduce our reliance on one production location for this critical component. The total manufacturing time of a UHP graphite electrode and its associated connecting pin is, on average and except for special requests, approximately six months.
The size of the electrodes used in EAF steel production varies depending on the size of the furnace, the size of the furnace’s electric transformer and the planned productivity of the furnace. In a typical furnace using alternating electric current and operating at a typical number of production cycles per day, three UHP graphite electrodes are fully consumed (requiring the
1 Production capacity reflects expected maximum production volume during the period depending on product mix and expected maintenance outage. Actual production may vary.
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addition of new electrodes), on average, every eight to ten operating hours. UHP graphite electrodes are consumed at a rate of approximately 1.7 kilograms per MT of steel production in EAF facilities.
The actual rate of consumption and addition of electrodes for a particular furnace depends primarily on the efficiency and productivity of the furnace. Therefore, demand for graphite electrodes is directly related to the amount and efficiency of EAF steel production. EAF steel production requires significant heat (as high as 5,000° F) to melt the raw materials, primarily scrap metal, in the furnace. Heat is generated as electricity (as much as 150,000 amps) passes through the electrodes and creates an electric arc between the electrodes and the raw materials.
Graphite Electrode Industry - Supply and Demand Trends
Supply trends
We estimate that as of the end of 2022, the graphite electrode industry globally (excluding China) had capacity to produce approximately 800 thousand MT of graphite electrodes. The industry is fairly consolidated, with the five largest global (excluding China) producers in the industry, GrafTech, Resonac Holdings Corporation (previously known as Showa Denko K.K.), Graphite India Limited, Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. and HEG Limited, collectively, representing approximately 80% of global (excluding China) graphite electrode production capacity. Our graphite electrode production facilities, with production capacity of approximately 200 thousand MT (excluding St. Marys), represents one-quarter of the global (excluding China) graphite electrode production capacity.
We believe that no new graphite electrode production facilities have been built outside of China for approximately ten years. In recent years, additional production capacity has been generated by optimization and debottlenecking of existing assets and limited brownfield expansion.
Although graphite electrode production capacity within China exceeds that of the rest of the world combined, the production landscape in China is fragmented, and the quality of Chinese graphite electrodes varies greatly. We believe that a significant portion of the electrodes produced in China do not meet the quality standards needed to be utilized in the most demanding EAF applications. In addition, the imposition of customs duties and other tariffs in key EAF steelmaking regions, including the United States and the European Union ("EU"), have further limited the quantities of graphite electrodes exported from China.
We primarily compete in the UHP segment of the graphite electrode market. We estimate that, as of the end of 2022, global (excluding China) UHP graphite electrode capacity was approximately 680 thousand MT, or approximately 84% of the global (excluding China) graphite electrode capacity. After factoring in practical utilization rates (e.g., accounting for product mix and expected maintenance outage), this capacity is insufficient to meet the global (excluding China) demand for UHP graphite electrodes (see “Demand Trends” section below). As a result, exports from Chinese electrode producers that meet the technical performance standards required by EAF steel manufacturers typically provide the balance of UHP graphite electrode needs.
Demand trends
We estimate that global (excluding China) UHP graphite electrode demand was approximately 680 thousand MT in 2022. UHP graphite electrodes are primarily used in the EAF steelmaking process, and long-term global growth of EAF steel production has driven increased demand for graphite electrodes. EAF steelmaking has historically been the fastest-growing segment of the global steel market. According to the World Steel Association (“WSA”), global (excluding China) EAF steel production grew at a 4% compound annual growth rate from 2015 to 2021, the most recent year for which WSA has published such figures. This compares to a 2% compound annual growth rate for overall global (excluding China) steel production during this same period. As a result, the EAF method of steelmaking accounted for 49% of the global (excluding China) steel production in 2021, compared to 44% in 2015, with share growth in nearly every region.
EAF steelmaking is more energy efficient and is advantaged in terms of its environmental footprint, compared to steel produced through the blast oxygen furnace (“BOF”) steelmaking model. According to the Steel Manufacturers Association (“SMA”), EAF steelmaking produces 75% fewer carbon dioxide emissions compared to BOF steelmaking. Further, SMA notes that the EAF process is a sustainable model for recycling scrap-based raw materials into new steel, which is 100% (and infinitely) recyclable at the end of its useful life. In addition to these advantages, EAF steel producers benefit from their flexibility in sourcing iron units, being able to make steel from either scrap or alternative sources of iron, such as direct reduced iron and hot briquetted iron, both made directly from iron ore.
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Reflecting these and other competitive advantages, we believe EAF steel production will continue to grow at a faster rate than BOF steel production. Based on industry announcements of planned incremental EAF capacity additions, we estimate this could result in global (excluding China) EAF production capacity increasing at approximately 3% compound annual growth rate from 2022 to 2030. We expect this to result in a similar increase in demand for UHP graphite electrodes over this same period to support EAF capacity expansion, before factoring in further potential UHP graphite electrode demand from production increases at existing EAF steel plants to support overall expected growth in steel demand. Combined, we believe these factors could result in global (excluding China) UHP graphite electrode demand growing at approximately 3% to 4% compound annual growth rate through 2030.
Petroleum Needle Coke
Petroleum needle coke, a crystalline form of carbon derived from decant oil, is the key raw material we use in the production of graphite electrodes. It is also a primary raw material utilized in the production of synthetic graphite used in anodes for lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles ("EV").
Petroleum needle coke is produced through a manufacturing process very similar to a refinery. The production process converts decant oil, a byproduct of the gasoline refining process, into petroleum needle coke. Pitch needle coke, used principally by Chinese graphite electrode manufacturers, is made from coal tar pitch, a byproduct of coking metallurgical coal used in BOF steelmaking. For the production of our graphite electrodes, we prefer petroleum needle coke because of the meaningfully shorter bake and graphitizing time required, compared to graphite electrodes produced using pitch needle coke.
We are substantially vertically integrated into petroleum needle coke through our Seadrift facility ("Seadrift"), located in Port Lavaca, Texas, which provides the majority of our petroleum needle coke requirements used to produce our graphite electrodes and insulates us from rapid changes in the petroleum needle coke market. In addition, we believe the quality of Seadrift’s petroleum needle coke is superior for graphite electrode production compared to most of the petroleum needle coke available to our peers on the open market, allowing us to produce high-quality electrodes in a cost‑efficient manner. Seadrift sources all its decant oil requirements from reputable U.S.-based suppliers. Seadrift has developed a well-diversified pool of suppliers, which we believe is sufficient to meet our needs.
Graphite electrode producers combine petroleum needle coke and/or pitch needle coke with binders and other ingredients to form graphite electrodes. Petroleum needle coke and pitch needle coke, relative to other varieties of coke, are distinguished by their needle-like structure and their quality, which is measured by the presence of impurities, principally sulfur, nitrogen and ash. Petroleum needle coke and pitch needle coke are typically low in these impurities. Additionally, the needle-like structure of petroleum and pitch needle coke creates expansion along the length of the electrode, rather than the width, which reduces the likelihood of fractures.
Petroleum Needle Coke Industry - Supply and Demand Trends
Supply Trends
We estimate that, as of the end of 2022, the petroleum needle coke industry globally (excluding China) had capacity to produce approximately 750 thousand MT of petroleum needle coke. The global (excluding China) industry is highly concentrated as it is comprised of four producers, Phillips 66, GrafTech (via Seadrift), Petrocokes Japan Ltd. (a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation) and ENEOS Holdings, Inc. Our Seadrift facility, with production capacity of approximately 140 thousand MT, represents nearly one-fifth of the global (excluding China) petroleum needle coke production capacity.
Petroleum needle coke production capacity outside of China has remained relatively flat for many years due to the capital intensity, technical know-how and long permitting lead times required to build greenfield needle coke production facilities. Furthermore, we believe that brownfield expansion opportunities are generally limited as petroleum needle coke manufacturing is a continuous process with significant costs associated with shutting down and restarting facilities for maintenance or capital investment.
Chinese petroleum needle coke production capacity is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, with a primary focus on serving the EV market, as China is currently the largest producer of EV batteries. Although this may provide sufficient capacity to meet global petroleum needle coke needs for the next several years, as demand from emerging non-Chinese EV battery producers continues to increase, we believe that regional supply-demand imbalances will occur, particularly in North America and Europe.
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Demand Trends
We estimate that global (excluding China) needle coke demand for use in UHP graphite electrode production was approximately 584 thousand MT in 2022, with the majority being petroleum needle coke. With demand for UHP graphite electrodes expected to increase at approximately 3% to 4% or more compound annual growth rate from 2022 to 2030 (see “Graphite Electrode” section above), we expect this to result in a similar increase in demand for needle coke used in graphite electrode production.
While the vast majority of petroleum needle coke produced globally (excluding China) is currently used in the production of graphite electrodes, its use in lithium-ion batteries for the EV market is expected to grow with the increased production of these vehicles. Most EVs rely on lithium-ion batteries as their key performance component, with graphite being the key material used for the carbon anode portion of the batteries. Although both natural and synthetic graphite are used in anodes for lithium-ion batteries, EV manufacturers prefer synthetic graphite, which is produced using needle coke, because of its advantages in terms of charging rate and capacity, providing batteries with longer driving ranges and longevity.
Based on the International Energy Agency’s estimates for growth in EV sales and battery pack sizes, we estimate this could result in global needle coke demand for use in EV applications increasing at a 20% or more compound annual growth rate from 2022 to 2030. While synthetic graphite can be produced from either petroleum needle coke or pitch needle coke, petroleum needle coke has superior characteristics for EV battery applications, as it does with graphite electrode applications. As a result, demand growth for petroleum needle coke for use in the EV market is expected to be higher than that of overall needle coke demand growth. As noted above, with North American and European EV manufacturers increasing focus on domestic sourcing of battery material needs, we believe that regional supply-demand imbalances will occur for petroleum needle coke in the coming years.
Contracts and Customers
Our customers include major steel producers and other ferrous and non-ferrous metal producers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (collectively, “EMEA”), the Americas, and Asia-Pacific (“APAC”), which sell their products primarily into the automotive, construction, appliance, machinery, equipment and transportation industries.
We sell our products under short-term purchase agreements, LTAs and spot purchase orders.
Our short-term agreements are either annual, semi-annual or quarterly. Because of the long production time, the book building process is largely concentrated in the fourth quarter of each year for the annual short-term agreements as well as for the semi-annual agreements related to the first half of the upcoming year. Spot purchase orders are entered into with deliveries usually starting three or more months later. Pricing has historically been cyclical, reflecting the demand trends of the global EAF steelmaking industry and supply of graphite electrodes. The price of our short-term agreements is determined through contract negotiations with our customers and is influenced by the then-prevailing price on spot purchase orders as well as the anticipated supply-demand situation at the time of the planned deliveries. There is a lag between the time we negotiate prices for our short-term agreements and when our electrodes are delivered and recognized in revenue.
Our LTAs were entered into between the end of 2017 and early 2019. As graphite electrodes are an essential consumable in the EAF steel production process, the LTAs provided certainty of supply of reliable, high-quality graphite electrodes in an at-times volatile market. These LTAs have fixed prices. Within the contract, our customers are contractually bound to purchase the specified volume of product at the price under the contract. Sales from our LTAs represented 68%, 77% and 87% of our net sales in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
As our LTAs are nearing the end of their terms, our mix of business has begun to shift towards short-term purchase agreements and spot purchase orders. We will continue to offer multi-year agreements as an important part of our commercialization strategy and value proposition. Our substantial vertical integration into petroleum needle coke supports our ability to offer contracts with varying durations, providing our customers with flexibility and surety of supply. However, we do not anticipate that multi-year agreements will make up the majority of our portfolio moving forward.
2022 Revenue and production by region
Approximately 93% of our graphite electrodes were purchased by EAF steel producers in 2022. The remaining portion is primarily used in various other ferrous and non-ferrous melting applications, fused materials, chemical processing, and alloy metals. We sell our products in every major geographic region globally. Sales of our products to buyers outside the United States accounted for approximately 73% of net sales in 2022 compared to 79% in both 2021 and 2020. Overall, in 2022, we generated 91% of our net sales from EMEA and the Americas.
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The charts below show our revenue by region for 2022 and 2021:
Sales and customer service
We differentiate and sell the value of our graphite electrodes primarily based on price, product quality and performance, delivery reliability and customer technical service.
We have a large customer technical service organization, with supporting application engineering and scientific groups and approximately 40 engineers and specialists around the world serving in this area. We believe that we are one of the industry leaders in providing value-added technical services to our customers.
Our direct sales force currently operates from 11 sales offices located around the world. We sell our graphite electrodes primarily through our direct sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors, all of whom are trained and experienced with our products.
We have customer technical service personnel based around the world to assist customers to maximize their production and minimize their costs. A portion of our engineers and technicians provide technical service and advice to key steel and other metals customers. These services relate to furnace applications and operation, as well as furnace upgrades to reduce energy consumption, improve raw material costs and increase output.
We believe we have a competitive advantage in offering customers ArchiTech Furnace Productivity System ("ArchiTech"), which is an advanced support and technical service platform in the graphite electrode industry. ArchiTech, which has been installed in customer furnaces worldwide, enables our engineers to work with our customers seamlessly to maximize the performance of their furnaces and provide real-time diagnostics and troubleshooting. The arc furnace monitoring system team is continuously listening to our customers' needs and develops new functionalities for the ArchiTech environment.
Distribution
We deploy various demand management and inventory management techniques to seek to ensure that we can meet our customers’ delivery requirements while still maximizing the utilization of our production capacity. We can experience significant variation in our customers’ delivery requirements as their specific needs vary and change throughout the year. We generally seek to maintain appropriate inventory levels, taking into account these factors as well as the significant differences in manufacturing cycle times for graphite electrode products and our customers’ products.
Finished products are usually stored at our manufacturing facilities. Limited quantities of some finished products are also stored at local warehouses around the world to meet customer needs.
Research and development
We have over 135 years of experience in the research and development ("R&D") of graphite- and carbon-based solutions. By focusing our management’s attention and R&D spending on the graphite electrode business, we have been able to improve the quality of our graphite electrodes, maintain our position as an industry leader and improve our relationships with strategic customers. Our focus on improving the quality of petroleum needle coke through R&D has led to our petroleum needle coke production at Seadrift being best-in-class for use in the manufacturing of highly durable UHP electrodes. Simultaneously, the R&D team helps to evaluate technology in adjacent markets where GrafTech may have technological advantages. We believe that the above strengths and capabilities provide us with a competitive advantage.
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Intellectual property
We believe that our intellectual property, consisting primarily of patents and proprietary know-how, provides us with competitive advantages and is important to our growth opportunities. Our intellectual property portfolio is extensive, with over 127 U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications.
We own, have the right to use or have obtained licenses for various trade names and trademarks used in our businesses. For example, the UCAR trademark is owned by Union Carbide Corporation ("Union Carbide") (which was acquired by Dow Chemical Company) and is licensed to us on a worldwide, exclusive and royalty-free basis until January 2035. This particular license automatically renews for successive 10-year periods. It permits non-renewal by Union Carbide at the end of any renewal period upon five years’ notice of non-renewal.
We rely on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as appropriate agreements to protect our intellectual property. Among other things, we seek to protect our proprietary know-how and information by requiring employees, consultants, strategic partners and others who have access to such proprietary information and know-how to enter into confidentiality or restricted use agreements.
Insurance
We maintain insurance against civil liabilities relating to personal injuries to third parties, for loss of or damage to property, for business interruptions and for certain environmental matters, that provides coverage, subject to the applicable coverage limits, deductibles and retentions, and exclusions, that we believe is appropriate upon terms and conditions and for premiums that we consider fair and reasonable in the circumstances. There can be no assurance that we will not incur losses beyond the limits of or outside the coverage of our insurance.
Regulatory Matters
As a company with global operations, we are subject to the laws and regulations of the United States and the multiple foreign jurisdictions in which we operate or conduct business as well as the rules, reporting obligations and interpretations of all such requirements and obligations by various governing bodies, which may differ among jurisdictions. These include federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations, increasingly complex and changing laws and regulations enacted to protect business and personal data in the United States and other jurisdictions, including the EU's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), anti-corruption laws, import/export controls, anti-competition laws, U.S. securities laws and a variety of regulations including work-related and community safety laws. We believe we operate in compliance in all material respects with applicable laws and regulations, and maintaining compliance with them is not expected to materially affect our capital expenditures, earnings and competitive position. Estimates of future costs for compliance with U.S. and foreign environmental protection laws and regulations, and for environmental liabilities, are necessarily imprecise due to numerous uncertainties, including the impact of potential new laws and regulations, the availability and application of new and diverse technologies, the extent of insurance coverage, the potential discovery of contaminated properties, or the identification of new hazardous substance disposal sites at which we may be a potentially responsible party ("PRP") and, in the case of sites subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and similar state and foreign laws, the final determination of remedial requirements and the ultimate allocation of costs among the PRPs. Subject to the inherent imprecision in estimating such future costs, but taking into consideration our experience to date regarding environmental matters of a similar nature and facts currently known, we estimate that our costs and capital expenditures (in each case, before adjustment for inflation) for environmental protection regulatory compliance programs and for remedial response actions will not be material over the next several years. Furthermore, we establish accruals for environmental liabilities when it is probable that a liability has been or will be incurred, and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. We adjust the accrual as new remedial actions or other commitments are made, as well as when new information becomes available that changes the prior estimates previously made and we believe our existing accruals are reasonable.
Human Capital Resources
Employment
As of December 31, 2022, we had 1,347 employees (excluding contractors), 815 of which were hourly employees. A total of 519 employees were in Mexico, 455 were in Europe, 329 were in the United States, 37 were in Brazil, five were in the Asia Pacific region and two were in South Africa.
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As of December 31, 2022, approximately 524 employees, or 39% of our worldwide employees, were covered by collective bargaining or similar agreements that expire, or are subject to renegotiation, at various times through December 31, 2023. We believe that, in general, our relationships with our employees' unions are good and that we will be able to renew or extend our collective bargaining or similar agreements on reasonable terms as they expire. We have not had any material work stoppages or strikes initiated by our employees during the past year.
Health and Safety
The health and safety of our global team is a top priority and is a core value of the Company. Our comprehensive programs strive to achieve zero injuries and no harm done. Our total recordable incident rate in 2022 was 0.94 per 200,000 work hours, compared to 0.49 per 200,000 work hours in 2021. Our global Health, Safety and Environmental Protection ("HS&EP") policy applies to all employees and governs our actions and decisions every day. We also have a Code of Conduct and Ethics for Suppliers and Contractors that includes HS&EP guidelines required for doing business with GrafTech. GrafTech’s focus on HS&EP is a top priority for all employees. We have built risk recognition into our HS&EP programs. From pre-job planning, safety walks and inspections, planned job observations, or training employees on health and safety best practices, we strive to identify and mitigate risks. In the spirit of continuous improvement, regular inspections, internal reviews and corporate audits are conducted to foster compliance with our high standards.
Diversity and Inclusion
As a global enterprise, we believe diversity is foundational to maintaining a competitive workforce in our industry. Unique perspectives promote business innovation and excellence. Therefore, we seek out individuals with different backgrounds and experiences, and we aim to foster an inclusive community that celebrates these differences. Our affirmative action plans, recruitment policies, and hiring practices support our diversity and inclusion objectives and we assign responsibilities for upholding policies, procedures, and practices for diverse and inclusive hiring and talent management at both the corporate and site levels. GrafTech affirms its position as an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to recruiting, employing, and promoting qualified veterans and disabled individuals, and we aim to ensure our people have equal opportunities related to job promotions, compensation and benefits, and personal development.
Our global footprint lends itself to organic diversity, and our employee base has varied educational backgrounds and life experiences. However, we strive to go beyond this organic diversity and be more intentional through our talent acquisition, retention, and development practices. As of December 31, 2022, 33% of our senior leadership team and 27% of our Board members were female.
Compensation and Total Rewards
We provide competitive compensation programs to help meet the needs of our employees. Our programs are designed to support the profitable growth of our business; attract, reward, and retain the talent we need to succeed; support the health and overall well-being of our employees; and reinforce a performance-based culture.
In addition to base compensation, we offer individual and group-based performance bonuses. Benefits packages include medical, dental, prescription, vision, group life insurance, short- and long-term disability, paid vacation and holidays, and tuition reimbursement. The tuition reimbursement program, in particular, helps employees who want to continue their education or seek specialized job training, and illustrates our commitment to continued learning and focus on professional development.
Employee Retention
We seek to retain the best people by providing them with opportunities to grow, build skills and be appreciated for their contributions as they work to serve our customers. Our employees are critical to our success and are the reason we are able to execute at a high level. We believe a continuous focus on employee engagement will help us provide high quality products to our customers. In October 2022, we completed our first global employee engagement survey that requested feedback from our employees on important issues on a variety of topics, including safety, pay, communication, and training. The majority of our employees participated in the survey. The responses to the survey helped us identify opportunities to further engage with our employees.
Employee Training and Development
Through our training programs, we help employees grow, innovate, and impact our business and industry. We have defined detailed profiles for each role at GrafTech that identify job-specific competencies to measure performance. Our
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performance management system allows employees to work with their supervisor or the human resources department to create a GrafTech career and growth path using these profiles and to direct them to job-specific professional development training and continuing education opportunities.
We conduct mid-year performance reviews, as well as annual reviews, for all employees to assess both job competencies and GrafTech's five core competencies of health, safety, and environment; customer focus; drive for results; ethics and values; and peer relationships. In annual performance reviews specifically, we discuss progress towards personal career goals, refine career aspirations, and connect employees with specific pathways to achievement.
Available Information
We make available, free of charge, on or through our website, our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We maintain our website at http://www.graftech.com . Information on, or accessible through, our website is not part of this Annual Report. We have included our website address only as an interactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website.