In 2019, the silicon metal market was not satisfactory. The sluggish end market made the silicon metal price keep reducing by 1000RMB/ton.

    In January, the silicon metal price reduced a little by 100RMB. Since the market demand was weak, most traders didn’t prepare too much stock before Spring Festival. In February, the price increased a little by 50-100RMB because of the low operation rate in southern areas and little spot goods. In March, the price reduced by 100-300RMB. The market demand was pretty weak with confused exporting price. In April, the price reduced by 200-800usd. Most traders wanted to sell their stock soon. A s a result, the price of silicon metal dropped obviously. In May, the price increased by 30 0-600RMB.The main reason was the lack of silica stone, the most important raw material of silicon metal. So the supply of si-metal was obviously reduced. Many buyers worried th e price might increase more and making their silicon metal purchasing plan in advance. So it made the price go up more. In June, the factories in southern China reproduced generally. But the market demand was still weak. The price reduced by another 300-500RMB.

    The Review of Silicon Metal Market for the First Half Year Of 2019
Industrial Grade Silicon Metal
In the first half year of 2019, the aluminum market was depressed. And the Polysilicon market hadn’t recovered yet. The consumption can hardly keep up with the supply. Besides, it is till April that the stock of 2018 was consumed. From May to June, the factories from southern area restarted the production gradually, which made the price lower.

    Chemical Grade Silicon Metal
The chemical grade silicon metal is mainly consumed by the silicone factories. However the silicone price slumped at April. As a result, the factories are with low enthusiasm of producing. Some factories even plan to reduce the production quantity.

    Operation and the Production Quantity
The operation rate of silicon metal from January to June in 2019 was lower than that of 2018. The production capacity for the first half year of 2019 is 1,278,000ton with a reduction of 287,000ton from the same period last year. The actual production quantity is 981,000ton with a decline of 248,000ton compared with that of the last year. At the first half year, the silicon metal market was generally falling. The most factories in Hunan, Guizhou, Dongbei, Guangxi, Shangxi, Jiangxi, and Fujian areas didn’t plan to the production. The factories in Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Neimeng, Chongqing, Qinghai areas are with a operation rate of 30%-60%.

Exporting
The exporting quantity of silicon metal totals 177,000tons in the first quarter of 2019 witha reduce RDE INDUSTRY CO.,LIMITED ROOM 301-2,HANG SENG WANCHAI BUILDING,3RD FLOOR,NO.200 HENNESSY ROAD,WANCHAI,HK of 21,000ton compared with last year. The exporting quantity of the second quarter is also obviously lower than that of 2018 The Downstream Market
The aluminum, polysilicon and silicone are the downstream industries of silicon metal. From the aspect of the price, the aluminum price kept reducing. The price of aluminum ingot stayed at 13000-13500RMB/ton for a long time. The silicone price was reducing from last year without any rewarming signal. The average price for polysilicon was 120,000RMB/ton-140,000RMB/ton. This year the price reduced to 60,000-65,000RMB/ton. From the aspect of production, the aluminum factories were seriously affected by the national policies to reduce the production quantity. Besides, the end consuming market was also not good. Although the operation of the silicone factories was stable, the end consuming capacity was very changeable. The development of polysilicon was restricted. After the withdrawal of the state subsidy, many factories lost money. The reproduction rate increased but with little profit. The factories were with low production enthusiasm.

The Market Prediction for the Second Half Year of 2019
According to the experience, the silicon metal production quantity from July to December i s the biggest among the year. Generally speaking, compared with that of the first half yea r, there will be a 100,000ton increase in production quantity at the second half year. Now adays, both international market and domestic market are not promising. But part of polys ilicon factories and silicone factories plan to increase the production. It is predicted that the silicon metal price may generally keep reducing for some while and then rebound with a small fluctuation. There may be shortage for some special grade of silicon, which may make the price of that grade keep stable or increase.