（April 15, 2026 Industry in-depth observation）In the second quarter of 2026, the national ecological environment governance will continue to increase, and the fine chemical field will usher in a new round of special environmental protection rectification actions. The ecological and environmental departments in many places have intensively carried out on-site inspections, online monitoring and verification, and special inspections of pollutant discharge permits, and the industry production pattern is accelerating the reconstruction, and small and medium-sized enterprises are facing unprecedented survival pressure.

According to the news of chemical parks in many places, this round of environmental protection rectification focuses on acid wastewater treatment, waste gas collection and treatment, and standardized disposal of solid waste in the production process of silica by sedimentation method. Some small and medium-sized silica enterprises with incomplete environmental protection facilities have been required to rectify within a time limit due to problems such as substandard wastewater discharge indicators, insufficient waste gas collection rate, and random piling of sludge and waste residue, and some enterprises have even directly implemented production shutdown for rectification. According to incomplete statistics in the industry, in early April alone, nearly ten small and medium-sized silica plants in East China and Central China were in a state of production restriction or shutdown, and the overall effective supply of the industry contracted in stages.

The sharp rise in environmental protection costs is another practical pressure faced by white carbon companies. In order to meet the latest emission standards, enterprises need to upgrade sewage treatment systems, install high-efficiency waste gas treatment equipment, and improve the solid waste resource utilization process, and the environmental protection investment per ton of products has increased by hundreds of yuan compared with previous years. For small and medium-sized enterprises with meager profits, this continuous investment is difficult to bear, and many enterprises are in the dilemma of "no money for rectification, no rectification and production stoppage". In contrast, the leading silica enterprises have already laid out environmental protection upgrades in advance, equipped with advanced wastewater recycling systems, waste heat recovery devices and exhaust gas treatment processes, which can not only meet the standards of discharge, but also reduce comprehensive costs through resource recycling, and show stronger anti-risk ability in the industry rectification.

The supply-side contraction brought about by environmental protection production restrictions is also directly transmitted to the market side. Recently, the spot supply of ordinary precipitated silica has continued to be tight, and the cycle of some small, medium and downstream manufacturers has been significantly lengthened, and the market quotation has remained strong under the dual support of cost and supply. In particular, high-dispersion and environmentally friendly silica products have continued to grow in order volume due to their compliance with the low-carbon certification requirements of downstream green tires, high-end silicone rubber and other industries, and the operating rate of leading enterprises has remained above 90%.

At the same time, the policy level is also guiding the transformation of the industry to intensification and greening. Many chemical parks have made it clear that they will no longer approve new low-end and small-scale silica projects, and give priority to encouraging the implementation of new projects using low-carbon and environmental protection technologies such as carbon dioxide method, biomass raw material method, and closed-circuit circulation technology. This means that in the future, the new production capacity of the silica industry will be further concentrated in leading enterprises with advanced technology, environmental protection standards and outstanding scale effects, and the industry concentration will continue to increase.

Industry insiders believe that this round of environmental protection rectification is not a short-term movement, but a long-term trend of high-quality development of the industry. In the past, the model of relying on low-cost and extensive production to seize the market is unsustainable, and the silica industry is bidding farewell to the "small scattered" pattern and gradually moving towards a standardized, large-scale and green development path. For small and medium-sized enterprises, they will either increase investment to complete environmental protection upgrades and achieve transformation, or be phased out by the market; For leading enterprises, the optimization of the industry pattern under the high pressure of environmental protection will further consolidate its market position and enhance product bargaining power.

Looking forward to the future, with the normalization of environmental protection supervision, the supply side of the silica market may continue to be tight, and the price is expected to maintain a steady upward trend. The core competitiveness that truly determines the future of enterprises is no longer simply price advantage, but the ability to meet environmental protection standards, low-carbon process level and high-end product supply capacity, and a new round of reshuffle in the industry has officially begun.