April 13, 2026 Since the beginning of spring, the domestic silica (silica) industry has been undergoing drastic market restructuring and industrial upgrading due to the soaring price of sulfuric acid, the surge in demand for new energy tracks, and the tightening of environmental protection policies. Rising prices across the board, intensive landing of high-end projects, and accelerated iteration of green processes have become the most significant features of the current industry.
1. The skyrocketing raw materials pushed up costs, and the industry collectively adjusted prices to make up for losses
Entering 2026, the silica market will usher in a rare wave of price increases. Since March, enterprises in Fujian, Shandong, Jiangxi and other major producing areas have intensively issued price adjustment letters, and the whole series of products have been uniformly increased by 500 yuan/ton, superimposed on the first round of price adjustment at the beginning of the year, and the cumulative increase has reached 800 yuan/ton. At present, the mainstream quotation in the market has risen to 6300-7000 yuan/ton, an increase of 12%-18% from the end of 2025.
The core driver of this round of price increases is the "epic" surge in sulfuric acid prices. Affected by the tight supply of sulfur caused by the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and the centralized maintenance of domestic devices, the price of sulfuric acid soared by 72.41% in one month, and the spot price exceeded 2,000 yuan/ton in early April, a new high in nearly 20 years. As the core raw material of precipitation silica, the cost of sulfuric acid accounts for more than 30%, and its soaring price directly leads to the pressure on the production cost of enterprises. Industry insiders said that even if the price is adjusted significantly, the current increase is still difficult to fully cover the cost gap, and the industry as a whole is in a state of passive loss compensation.
2. Green projects have been intensively implemented, and CO₂ acidification process has become a new favorite
While industry costs are under pressure, the pace of high-end and green capacity expansion has not decreased. At the beginning of April, the 200,000 tons/year carbon dioxide acidification silica project with a total investment of 1.02 billion yuan was announced in Weifang, Shandong Province. The project is built in three phases, with an investment of 360 million yuan in the first phase and an annual output of 60,000 tons, which is expected to be put into operation in 2027. Compared with the traditional sulfuric acid method, CO₂ acidification process can significantly reduce pollution and carbon emissions, and is becoming the mainstream direction of industry transformation and upgrading.
In terms of the international market, Cabot's joint venture in India announced an investment of US$240 million to expand the production of fumed silica, which will double its production capacity, focusing on high-end application markets such as semiconductors and new energy batteries. The trends of domestic and foreign giants show that high-purity, high-dispersion, green and environmentally friendly high-end silica is becoming the core of future competition.
3. Optimize the demand structure, and new energy will become a growth engine
On the downstream demand side, the traditional application of silica and the emerging track show two heavens. The rubber industry (about 68% of total demand) remains the largest market, especially in the field of green tires. Silica can effectively reduce tire rolling resistance and improve grip, which meets the dual needs of new energy vehicles for energy conservation and safety. In 2026, the global demand for high-dispersion silica for green tires is expected to increase by 14.2%, and the Chinese market accounts for more than 45%.
At the same time, demand for lithium batteries, semiconductors, photovoltaics and other emerging fields has exploded. High-purity silica is used as a lithium battery separator coating and electrode slurry additive, with an annual demand growth rate of more than 25%. In the field of semiconductor wafer polishing (CMP) and photovoltaic films, silica has become an indispensable key material due to its excellent properties.
4. The policy accelerates the clearance of backward production capacity, and the industry concentration increases
With the tightening of environmental protection and "dual carbon" policies, the supply-side reform of the industry has accelerated. Many places have clearly restricted non-green process silica projects, and eliminated ordinary backward production capacity of less than 15,000 tons/year. This has forced small and medium-sized enterprises to accelerate their withdrawal, and the market share of leading enterprises has continued to increase. At present, leading enterprises such as Quecheng Co., Ltd. and Longxing Chemical have achieved a total share of nearly 40% through technological transformation and expansion.
5. Market outlook: high-level operation and structural upgrading go hand in hand
On the whole, in the short term, supported by the high price of raw materials such as sulfuric acid, the price of silica is easy to rise and difficult to fall, and it is expected to remain strong in the second quarter. In the medium and long term, the industry will shift from "scale expansion" to "high-quality development". Enterprises with green technology, integrated industrial chain, and high-end product research and development capabilities will take the lead in the wave of new energy and high-end manufacturing, while low-end production capacity relying on traditional processes will be gradually eliminated by the market.