The Silicon market in August 2021

The price of silicon metal set a new historical record in 2021 and is still setting a record! August was the craziest month in the history of silicon metal. The price of silicon of various grades increased by 8000-11000yuan, the largest increase is nearly by 70%, which is the highest in history!

The Review of Silicon Metal Market

Metallurgical grade silicon market

In August, the market for metallurgical silicon metal soared, and the prices of various grades silicon rose at RMB 7,800-9,500. In the first half of the month, the price of silicon rose by RMB 2,000-2,300, and the increase has been large. Taking advantage of the strong downstream market demand and the environmental protection reduction of silicon plants, the increase in power cuts due to the peak summer power consumption in various places, there is more chasing sentiment, and orders continue to be placed at high prices. Downstream companies have to follow the market and continue to purchase higher price due to the urgent orders. In the bullish sentiment, some companies hold down their goods which makes the market supply more tense. In the second half of the month, the market transaction price accelerated upward. Driven by the serious shortage of chemical grade silicon, metallurgical-grade silicon also continued to soar, rising by as much as 6,700 yuan in just two weeks.

Chemical grade silicon market

In August, the shortage of chemical-grade silicon metal continued to spread, and the price soared by more than 11,000 yuan. Due to the unsatisfactory quality of silica, the decline in the output rate of chemical silicon plants has become a reality and is likely to intensify. In addition, there is a large expectation of increased consumption of new projects in the organic silicon and polysilicon industries in the near future. Therefore, the upstream and downstream continue to be bullish on chemical silicon. The stock is also mainly based on 421#, 411# and other grades.

The Exporting Market of Silicon Metal

In July, the total exporting quantity of metal silicon was about 62,889 tons, a decrease of 6,341 tons compared with last month, a decrease of 9.16%, and an increase of 17,828 tons compared with the same period of last year, an increase of 39.56%. The price of silicon metal soared in August, and some foreign trade orders were difficult to deliver on schedule. The volume of new orders in the market was also very limited. The overall shipment volume might be lower than the total volume in July. This year, many exporters have suffered losses, and their losses are relatively large. They are operating very cautiously at present.

The Operation and Capacity

In July, the whole silicon metal factories opened 335 units, 5 units more than that of last month, and 89 units more than the same period of 2020.The operating rate was 59.27%, an increase of 4.91% compared with last month. The production capacity was 317,790 tons, and the capacity release rate was 58.51%. The total monthly output was 257,070 tons, which was reduced by 9,040 tons compared with July, down by 3.39%, but increased by 58,370 tons compared with the same period of 2020, increased by 29.37%. The total output from January to August was 1,723,180 tons, an increase of 415,360 tons from January to August 2020, an increase of 31.76%.

At present, the price of metal silicon continues to run at a high level, and some grades which in tight supply are still rising. The market is dominated by bullish sentiment in the later period. Silicon plants are also continuously operating at a high level under the pressure of environmental protection and power restrictions. It is estimated that the total silicon metal output will remain at about 260,000 tons in September.

The Market Prediction for September

It is expected that the price of silicon metal will continue to rise in September, but the rise will slow down compared with August.