Silicone

DMC price was generally stable this week. Silicone monomer producers were still reducing production. The downstream players, whose demand remained weak, purchased DMC on rigid demand. The price of silicon metal stayed relatively weak. The price of methyl chloride rose, and that of methanol was stable. The price of raw materials was relatively weak this week, maintaining the production cost. The prices of OH polymer, gum, silicone fluid and HCR mostly stabilized, while fell in some areas. The silicone monomer manufacturers reduced the operating rate to the larger extent, the downstream players still showed the sluggish demand for DMC. The silicone price is expected to stay relatively weak in the short term.

Fumed silica

This week, the domestic fumed silica market stayed relatively weak. The fumed silica price dropped. In terms of upstream raw materials, the prices of silicon tetrachloride (STC) and monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) generally stabilized, making the production cost change little overall. The demand for fumed silica in the downstream markets was still sluggish in this week. The downstream firms purchased fumed silica on rigid demand. Amid the sufficient supply of fumed silica due to the significantly increasing capacity, the fumed silica market will be relatively weak in the short period.

Silicon metal 

This week, the domestic price of silicon metal was stable but a bit down. Due to the May Day holiday, the silicon metal trading was flat. On the supply side: silicon metal factories had the high inventory. Amid in weak demand and the low silicon price, the silicon metal producers had less profit. It is expected that the silicon metal producers in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces will have difficulty in raising the operating rate in May. On the demand side: silicone manufacturers suffered on-going losses, silicone monomer producers cut down their operating rate, resulting in relatively weak demand for silicon metal. In case of the declining price of polysilicon, the polysilicon players bought silicon metal mostly by bargaining. Aluminium alloy enterprises were consuming their inventory, just buying silicon metal on rigid demand.

Polysilicon 

The market price of polysilicon continued its downward trend this week, which stood at ranging RMB 170/kg - RMB 195/kg for different specifications. Recently, the price of polysilicon was declining continuously. The supply of polysilicon was sufficient, its inventory stayed relatively stable. However, downstream players still have bearish expectations. The contract price of polysilicon is predicted to fall in the short run.