Silicon metal, also known as industrial silicon, is a product smelted by quartz and coke in an electric furnace. Its main use is as an additive for non-ferrous alloys. Silicon metal is widely used in semiconductor, aluminum alloy, and solar energy production.
Silicon Metal Specification
The classification of metal silicon is usually based on the proportion of iron, aluminum, and calcium contained in metal silicon. According to the content of iron, calcium, and aluminum in metal silicon, metal silicon can be divided into 553, 441, 411, 421, 3303, 3305, 2202, 2502, 1501, 1101, and other different brands.
Metal silicon smelting belongs to high energy consumption production. China’s metal silicon production has a long history. With the tightening of national energy policy, the development of energy conservation and emission reduction, and the promotion of new energy, metal silicon smelting has become a primary product and process. Many domestic emerging energy enterprises have built a series of circular industrial chains such as metal silicon, polysilicon, monocrystalline silicon, solar cells, etc.
The Production Status of Silicon Metal
In recent years, the overseas production capacity has gradually decreased, and the change in China’s production capacity has become the leading factor in the global overall production capacity change.
China is also the region with the highest production capacity of industrial silicon metal in the world. The scale of industrial silicon metal silicon accounts for 77% of the global production capacity. It is the largest and most important industrial silicon production region in the world.
Silicon metal is located at the top of the silicon-based new material industry chain, and it is the core raw material of photovoltaic, organic silicon, alloy, and other important sectors of the national economy.
The downstream of metal silicon is mainly used in organic silicon, aluminum alloy, and polycrystalline silicon. Among them, organic silicon has become the largest downstream of metal silicon, aluminum alloy is mostly used in automobile manufacturing, and the demand for polycrystalline silicon is mainly driven by the photovoltaic industry.
In October 2022, the price of metal silicon will be 21260 yuan/ton. The year-on-year growth rate is -48.97%, which is lower than the average value of 54.359% in the following statements, and the growth rate is under pressure.
Metal silicon price from January 2011 to October 2022
As the upstream of the currently hot organic silicon, polysilicon, and other products, metal silicon is a relatively popular product. However, in the process of producing metal silicon, in addition to various raw materials, the main source of energy supply is electricity, with huge carbon emissions. It is expected that the new capacity of the industry will be limited in the future. In addition to the serious shortage of electricity in China and the gradual issuance and implementation of the power restriction order, the shortage of power energy will further lead to the reduction of output and capacity. It is expected that the price of silicon metal will continue to rise.
