PURPOSE: To suppress thermal decomposition of pitch and to reduce evolution of a gas and end breakage by constituting the surface with which molten pitch is brought into contact with a material having substantially no catalytic action on thermal decomposition.

CONSTITUTION: The surface with which molten pitch is brought into contact is made of a material (Cr coating, SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, SiC, TiC, TiN, BN, Si3N4), etc., having substantially no catalytic action on thermal decomposition. The surface is especially effective in the case of mesophase pitch.