Fumed silica price still remain steady upward trend now, demand exceeds supply,raw materials cost increase and govern’s environment protection and control push the fumed silica going higher.
Purchase order keep being received. No any stock in warehouse and the producing schedule is full for next 6 weeks. The new orders keep coming, The domestic market has a strong need for fumed silica products in Coating,Paint,Silicone Sealant,etc.
The Chinese government’s efforts to rectify the environment also exacerbate the imbalance between the supply and demand in Chinese chemical industry. From 2016, after several large fog haze weather, the Chinese government began to strict environmental remediation measures. These measures don’t have a direct impact on the production of production enterprises of high-tech fumed silica , but the shutdown of related industries leads to the shortage of raw materials, and more and more using fumed silica as a substitute for traditional products exacerbate the imbalance of the supply and demand of the market.
The raw materials price has been going higher in the past 5 years. From October 2012, U.S decided to place tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels. Since then, Chinese poly-silicon industry continues to slump, as 80 percent of poly-silicon is produced as the solar panel exported to foreign countries. And the by-product of the poly-silicon industry — silicon tetrachloride, is also the main raw material source of fumed silica, began to become scarce, and its price has been rising ever since.
The rising of the price will last in the near future.