To provide a process for reducing the coefficients of thermal expansion in the vertical and horizontal directions of a carbon body, and an article prepared using such carbon body.

A carbon fiber bundle may be dispersed substantially as a single monofilament in pitch by stirring a mixture of the fiber and pitch at a temperature which imparts the pitch with a viscosity of about 0.1 to about 5 P. The obtained fiber-pitch binder comprises about 0.5 to about 10.0 wt.% carbon fiber which is dispersed substantially as a randomly arranged single monofilament. This fiber-pitch binder may be used directly as a binder for preparing a carbon body, e.g. a graphite electrode, a pin stock and a special graphite product. This unique binder using an economical amount of carbon fibers has the carbon fibers randomly arranged and therefore possesses abilities to increase the strength of the obtained carbon products and to reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion in one or more directions.