Silicone

DMC price was stable overall in this week. The silicone monomer producers reduced the operating rate owing to the maintenance, making the DMC output reduce. They showed stronger willingness of making profits out of it. The downstream market players purchased DMC on rigid demand. The price of silicon metal stayed relatively weak. The prices of methyl chloride and methanol rose and fell alternately. The production cost of DMC maintained in relative stability. The price of raw materials operated steadily this week, raising the production cost. The prices of OH polymer, gum and silicone fluid remained stable, but that of HCR dropped all the way. As the silicone monomer manufacturers reduced the operating rate to some extent, the imbalance between the supply and demand of DMC has somewhat eased. The silicone price is expected to stabilize in the short term.

Fumed silica

This week found the domestic fumed silica market stable. The fumed silica firms offered as the same price as before, and they were reducing the inventory in an active manner. In terms of upstream raw materials, the price of silicon tetrachloride (STC) was in stability, while that of  monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) fluctuated slightly with the production cost unchanged. The demand for fumed silica in the downstream markets stayed flat, not supporting fumed silica market better. Furthermore, the fumed silica  market was in sufficient supply with the purchase done by the firms on rigid demand. Amid the stable supply, the fumed silica market will be relatively weak in the short period.

Silicon metal 

This week, the domestic silicon metal price stayed relatively low. In Q1, the demand for silicon metal was sluggish, while the supply was enough, causing its price to decline continuously. The power price in the dry season in the southwest China was high, those silicon metal producers spent high production cost and they had operating rate of between 20% and 30% till the end of this week. In addition, some producers in Xinjiang saw an increase in power charge, and they had to stop production for maintenance. Accordingly, the domestic factories had willingness to raise the price of silicon metal. However, the downstream silicone and aluminium alloys players were watching the market, and the polysilicon producers bought in need at a low price. The domestic silicon metal market showed a stalemate between the upstream and downstream players.

Polysilicon

This week, the polysilicon market price fell slowly with few of transactions done. The maximum price difference among polysilicon producers was ranging RMB 14,000-15,000 per ton. The transaction price of mainstream orders in first tier enterprises was ranging RMB 190,000-195,000 per ton. The narrowed decrease in the price of polysilicon was because the demand of polysilicon was driven by the silicon chip enterprise output beyond expectations amid the sufficient supply of quartz sand. The increment of polysilicon was in a balance between supply and demand, so the price of polysilicon saw a slow decline trend.