Silicone

This week, the price of DMC stabilized but down in some areas. The major silicone monomer producers continued lowering the DMC price under the high inventory, downstream customers made moderate purchases at low prices, resulting in improved transaction amount. The price of silicon metal went on falling. The price of methyl chloride remained stable and that of methanol dropped. The production cost of DMC reduced a bit. With the falling price of raw materials and the reducing cost, the prices of OH polymer, gum, silicone fluid and HCR mostly decreased across China. Although the silicone monomer producers had low operating rate, the downstream markets still saw the sluggish demand for silicone. The silicone price is expected to stay relatively low in the short term.

Fumed silica

This week, the domestic fumed silica market presented stability, but some enterprises offered relatively lower prices. In terms of the raw materials, the prices of monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) and silicon tetrachloride (STC) were stable, the production cost of fumed silica was unchanged. In the week, the demand for fumed silica in the downstream markets was still weak, with the flat transaction amount. Although the prices of MTCS and STC are inclined to rise, the supply of fumed silica is abundant and the downstream markets enter the off-season, so the fumed silica market is expected to consolidate in the short term.

Silicon metal 

This week, the domestic price of silicon metal continued to decline. On the supply side, the major factories in northwest China went on lowering the price, while the enterprises in southwest China intends to resume production as it enters the rainy season there. On the demand, polysilicon producers had high operating rate with the high output; the silicone factories had low operating rate due to the high inventory; the operating rate of aluminium alloy manufacturers was overall flat. Generally, the downstream demand for silicon metal remained sluggish. Amid the expectations of reducing production cost in the rainy season and resuming production in silicone producers, the price of silicon metal is projected to stay relatively low.

Polysilicon 

This week, the decline in the polysilicon price expanded. Due to the loss, some enterprises stopped production. Multiple polysilicon manufacturers did not sell goods any longer, and the individual companies were trying to reduce the inventory by selling at low prices. In the aspect of polysilicon supply, as Q3 saw increasing production capacity of new project go into production, the periodic oversupply in the polysilicon market intensified. To demand side, as the price of silicon chips continued to fall, the enterprises reduced production, making the demand for polysilicon reduce.