Because of its boiling point of 4250℃ and melting point of around 3850℃, graphite is one of the non-metallic materials found to be resistant to high temperature and widely used. Graphite loses less weight even when burned at high temperatures due to its low coefficient of thermal expansion. Therefore, graphite is used as a material in refractory or high temperature resistant materials.

Because graphite has many excellent properties, it is widely used in metallurgy, machinery, electrical, chemical, textile, national defense and other industrial sectors. A major use of graphite is in the production of refractory materials, including refractory bricks, crucibles, continuous casting powders, mold cores, molds, and refractory materials. Graphite products can also be made of carbonaceous refractory materials in a resistance furnace at 2500-2800 °C to make them graphitized.

Two important changes in the refractory industry in recent years are the widespread use of magnesia-carbon bricks in the lining of steelmaking furnaces, and the use of aluminum-carbon bricks in continuous casting. The graphite refractory material is closely connected with the steelmaking industry, and the refractory material consumed by the steelmaking industry.