Silicone

This week, the transaction price of DMC continued to rise, due to the increasing price of raw materials, the reducing operating rate of silicone monomer producers and the growing demand of DMC. The price of silicon metal rose overall. The price of methyl chloride stayed stable, and that of methanol fell. The production cost of DMC was raised. In this week, in the increasing price of raw materials, the prices of OH polymer, gum, HCR and silicone fluid all stabilized. With the expected decrease in the silicone monomer supply caused by the recently increasing cost  and growing stocking of the downstream players during the period of the New Year, the silicone market price is predicted to go up a little in the short term.

Fumed silica

The domestic fumed silica market price fell this week, with decrease in both company’s quotation and market transaction price. With reference to raw materials, the prices of monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) and silicon tetrachloride (STC) dropped slightly. For the demand side, the producers of RTV rubber and HCR purchased fumed silica based on needs. In the short term, the price of upstream raw materials might be down and the downstream demand kept stable, thus the fumed silica market price is projected to remain relatively low.

Silicon metal 

The price of silicon metal spot went up overall this week. On the supply side, effected by the air pollution and the power control policy, some silicon metal producers in Xinjiang region reduced the operating rate. Likewise, silicon producers in Inner Mongolia have also been affected, they reduced production in excess of expectations. On the demand, the price of silicone rose and the silicone producers had high operating rate, growing the demand of silicon metal. The price of polysilicon fell, the released new polysilicon capacity drove the demand of silicon metal. The price of aluminium alloy increased a bit, but the aluminium alloy producers showed strong wait-and-see sentiment and they bought silicon metal on rigid demand.

Polysilicon 

This week, the price of N-type polysilicon rose, while that of P-type one continued falling. Driven by the growing demand of N-type polysilicon, the polysilicon enterprises increased production of N-type polysilicon, which could not yet fully meet the market demand. Accordingly, the price of N-type polysilicon is slated to stay high, and is likely to rise moderately. Due to the weak demand for P-type polysilicon, individual enterprises began to sell together the N- and P-type polysilicon to customers.