Silicone

This week, the price of DMC rose, which was driven by the increasing pre-sale orders in the leading DMC enterprises and the less supply caused by overhaul in some silicone monomer producers. The price of silicon metal fell in a slight manner. The price of methyl chloride rose while that of methanol was stable. The production cost of DMC increased. In the week, the prices of OH polymer, gum and silicone fluid all rose due to the rising price of raw materials and the increased needs of downstream players, and HCR price was stable. Amid the relatively high production cost, low inventory of silicone monomer producers, and the weakening demand sign of the terminal markets, the silicone price is slated to slightly grow in the short run.  

Fumed silica

This week, the domestic fumed silica market ran well. Some enterprises continuously raised price while the others maintained stable price. In terms of raw materials, the shortage of monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) was eased, making its price fall. The price of silicon tetrachloride (STC) stuck high. In the week, the fumed silica enterprises operated normally, and the supply of the high quality fumed silica was not sufficient in market. The producers of RTV rubber and HCR in the downstream sectors bought fumed silica on the rigid demand, with the flat actual transaction volume. The price of fumed silica is expected, in the short term, to adjust at a high level.

Silicon metal

The price of silicon metal fell overall this week. On the supply, the silicon metal producers from the main areas had high operating rate, those in Xinjiang region resumed production one after another. Concerning the demand, despite the slight rise in silicone price, the silicone monomer producers had low operation rate and they bought silicon metal by their needs. The polysilicon manufacturers increased needs of silicon metal due to the released capacities, but they didn’t have passion for purchase. The aluminium firms purchased silicon metal on rigid demand. Currently, most of silicon metal producers offered high prices and focused on the existing orders, just a few of them lowered price. The downstream customers could not accept the silicon metal price higher than expected, resulting in the limited transaction amount.

Polysilicon 

The polysilicon price went down this week. On the one hand, the domestic five leading enterprises didn't sign new orders in the week while only a few small polysilicon producers had new contract orders. Some of them adjusted prices of the existing orders. As a result, the inventory in the polysilicon firms increased. On the other hand, the producers of silicon wafers and battery cells reduced the operating rate, causing the decreasing needs for polysilicon. As of this week, out of a total of 16 polysilicon manufacturers in China, one underwent maintenance of partial devices, which had a slight impact on the domestic production of polysilicon.