Silicone

The transaction price of DMC rose this week as the downstream players increased demand for DMC before the Spring Festival holiday (Feb. 9 to Feb. 17) and the silicone monomer producers had low inventory overall. The price of silicon metal fell, those of methyl chloride and methanol were stable. The production cost of DMC reduced. In this week, the prices of OH polymer, gum, HCR and silicone fluid were increasing due to the rising price of raw materials. The silicone monomer producers have the existing orders to finish. The silicone market price is expected to stay stable in the short term.

Fumed silica

The actual transaction price of fumed silica rose in China this week. The prices of monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) and silicon tetrachloride (STC) were stable. The producers of RTV rubber and HCR had the growing demand of fumed silica before the Spring Festival holiday (starting February 9), with the increasing transaction volume. Affected by the expectation of recent price increase, the fumed silica market price is slated to go up in the near future.

Silicon metal 

The price of silicon metal kept falling this week, due to the decreasing demand before the Spring Festival (on Feb. 10). For the supply, this January saw the supply decrease from the producers in northwest China. Those in southwest China had low operation rate. To the demand, two big silicone monomer producers in Inner Mongolia overhauled their plants, slightly lowered demand for silicon metal. The price of polysilicon rose, driven by the high power cost and the structural shortage of N-type polysilicon. New capacity of polysilicon was released, demanding more silicon metal. Aluminium alloy companies ran normally, buying silicon metal on rigid needs.  

Polysilicon 

This week, the price of N-type polysilicon rose slightly due to the supply still being less than the demand growth. The mixture package sales strategy of two types of polysilicon by enterprises caused a slight increase in the price of P-type polysilicon. Currently, the ingot mono pulling firms maintain high operation rate, they have the growing demand of polysilicon before the Spring Festival Holiday starts on February 10. Meanwhile, the leading polysilicon enterprises intend to raise the price of N-type polysilicon. The price of polysilicon is projected to stably increase before the Spring Festival. Afterward, the price of polysilicon depends on the inventory replenishment and operating rate in the downstream sectors.