(April 24, 2026) On April 24, the latest market research data and technical dynamics of the domestic silica industry showed that with the breakthrough of a number of core technologies and the continuous improvement of industry standards, the domestic silica industry is gradually solving long-term pain points such as low-end overcapacity, insufficient high-end supply, and greater environmental protection pressure.
As a key inorganic silicon material, silica is widely used in tires, silicone rubber, coatings, food, medicine and other fields, and its industrial development level is deeply bound to the upgrading of downstream industries. In recent years, domestic environmental protection policies have become stricter, demand in downstream high-end fields has surged, and competition in overseas markets has intensified.
In terms of market operation, as of April 24, the domestic silica market was running smoothly as a whole, and the trend of product structure differentiation was obvious. As a mainstream category, the market supply is sufficient, and the average price of general-grade products is stable at 6050-6100 yuan/ton, and the transaction price of rubber special grade products is maintained at 6300-7000 yuan/ton due to the rigid demand of the downstream tire industry; due to the lack of high-end production capacity, the supply of goods continues to be tight, and the quotation of high-end models exceeds 30,000 yuan/ton, forming an obvious price gradient with ordinary precipitation products.
The demand side presents the characteristics of "low-end stability and high-end growth". With the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the demand for high-dispersion and low-rolling resistance silica for high-performance tires increased by 18% year-on-year; in high-end fields such as food and electronics, the demand for food-grade and electronic grade silica grew by more than 25%, becoming a new growth pole in the industry. However, at the same time, the problem of low-end general-purpose silica overcapacity still exists, and some small and medium-sized manufacturers are facing the dilemma of insufficient capacity utilization and intensified homogeneous competition.
Technological innovation has become the key to solving the pain points of the industry. Recently, domestic enterprises have made intensive breakthroughs in the fields of green preparation of silica and high-end product research and development. The technology of rice husk ash resource preparation of silica developed by an enterprise in Shaanxi Province was officially implemented, using agricultural solid waste as raw material, not only reducing the cost of raw materials by 30%, but also realizing the resource utilization of solid waste, greatly reducing pollutant emissions, and the quality of finished products has reached the international advanced level.
In addition, low-carbon processes such as carbon dioxide acidification and membrane separation and purification have been gradually promoted, and new projects in Shandong, Jiangsu and other places have been implemented one after another, gradually replacing traditional high-pollution processes, which is in line with the domestic "double carbon" strategic orientation. In the field of high-end products, domestic enterprises have broken through the core technology of gas-phase silica through industry-university-research cooperation, and the localization of electronic-grade and pharmaceutical-grade products has been realized, breaking the monopoly of foreign enterprises, and the pace of import subsistence has continued to accelerate.
Industry supervision and standard improvement are promoted simultaneously to help the high-quality development of the industry. Recently, the competent authorities have refined the quality indicators of silica products, strengthened market sampling inspections, forced low-end backward production capacity to be cleared, accelerated the elimination of low-end devices below 15,000 tons/year, and gradually increased the industry concentration. At the same time, industry associations promote enterprises to establish a coordinated development mechanism, strengthen upstream and downstream cooperation, build a technical exchange platform, and promote the optimal allocation of industrial resources.
In terms of export market, domestic high-end silica exports have continued to pick up since April, with exports increasing by 22.3% year-on-year from January to April. However, industry insiders also pointed out that the industry is still facing problems such as dependence on imports of core equipment and shortcomings of high-end technology, and needs to continue to increase R&D investment.
Overall, the domestic silica industry is currently in a critical period of transformation, technological innovation drives industrial upgrading, and the market supply and demand structure continues to be optimized. In the short term, the market will continue to operate smoothly; in the medium and long term, with the release of green production capacity and high-end technology breakthroughs, the industry will gradually get rid of the low-end dilemma and develop in the direction of high quality and high added value, providing strong support for the upgrading of downstream industries.
