Graphite electrodes carry the electricity that melts scrap iron and steel (and sometimes direct-reduced iron: DRI) in electric arc furnaces, which are the vast majority of steel furnaces. They are made from petroleum cokeafter it is mixed with coal tar pitch. They are then extruded and shaped, baked to carbonize the binder(pitch), and finally graphitized by heating it to temperatures approaching 3000 °C, at which the carbon atoms arrange into graphite. They can vary in size up to 11 ft. long and 30 in. in diameter. An increasing proportion of global steel is made using electric arc furnaces, and the electric arc furnace itself is getting more efficient, making more steel per tonne of electrode. An estimate based on USGS data indicates that graphite electrode consumption was 197,000 tonnes in 2005.

On a much smaller scale, graphite is also used for making electrodes for electrical discharge machining (EDM), commonly used to make plastic injection molds.