The invention provides an external heating type rotary furnace for semi coke production. The external heating type rotary furnace comprises: an outer shell; a maintenance plate; six position limitingplates, wherein each two position limiting plates form a group and are fixed between the outer shell and the maintenance plate; a storage chamber arranged between the outer shell and the maintenance plate, wherein two of the position limiting plates, the maintenance plate and the outer shell enclose to form the storage chamber; a dry distillation chamber; a cooling structure; three driving structures used for conveying a material and respectively and linearly fixed in an equidifferent manner inside the storage chamber, the dry distillation chamber and the cooling structure, wherein the drivingstructure comprise a motor, a driving gear, a transmission gear, a conveying sleeve, a position limiting stopping ring, multiple projections and a baffle; three flow guiding sleeves; a dry distillation structure; a waste gas utilization structure; a material discharge chamber; and a wiring box. According to the present invention, the external heating type rotary furnace has advantages of convenient semi coke transportation, high heat exchange efficiency and good dry distillation quality.