Silicone
This week, the transaction price of DMC rose narrowly, due to the growing demand of DMC driven by resumption in the downstream producers. The prices of silicon metal and methyl chloride dropped, and that of methanol went down slightly. The production cost of DMC reduced. In this week, the prices of OH polymer, gum, HCR and silicone fluid all soared due to the rising price of raw materials. As the downstream end-users come to restart devices, the silicone monomer producers will have more pre-sale orders. The silicone market price is expected to rise slightly in the short period.
Fumed silica
The domestic price of fumed silica was stable this week. The price of monomethyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) consolidated. The price of silicon tetrachloride (STC) was up slightly with the supply shortage. In this week, the producers of RTV rubber and HCR resumed operations after the Spring Festival holiday (February 10-17), but they had only a few demand of fumed silica due to the sufficient inventory before the holiday. The fumed silica companies focused on completing the existing orders. It’s anticipated that the fumed silica market price will consolidate.
Silicon metal
The price of silicon metal spot fell this week, with the few transaction volume. In the aspect of supply, the overall supply increase was less than expected. The silicon metal producers in Xinjiang region plan to open new furnaces in Q1 2024, but they slowed down their progress due to the Cold Wave. The output of silicon metal in the southwest region changed relatively little. As to demand, the silicone firms had high operating rate and increased demand of silicon metal. The new polysilicon capacity is being put into operation as planned, which increased demand of silicon metal. Partial aluminium alloy companies started buying silicon metal after the Spring Festival holiday (February 10-17).
Polysilicon
The average transaction prices of N-type polysilicon and P-type one stabilized this week. During the Spring Festival holiday (February 10-17), most of polysilicon enterprises operated and delivered goods normally. Currently, polysilicon companies step forward new orders. The considerable amount of transaction orders is likely to be seen in the next week. Some newly operational polysilicon plants making a few amount of N-type polysilicon enter the market, easing the short supply of polysilicon largely. As regards silicon wafer, the producers had the operating rate almost as high as that before the Spring Festival.