(May 31, 2026) The domestic silica industry has moved away from the traditional market logic of price fluctuations and is entering a critical period of structural transformation. Against the backdrop of continuous implementation of dual carbon policies, normalized environmental controls, and pressure from downstream high-end industries, the industry is accelerating the elimination of outdated, high-energy-consuming production capacity, fully promoting green production technologies, and providing strong supply and demand for low-carbon, high-purity customized white carbon black products. The industry has completely shifted from "scale expansion" to "quality and efficiency improvement," with green and low-carbon transformation becoming the core theme of this month's industry development.

Optimizing the production capacity structure is the most prominent development feature of the white carbon industry this month. According to domestic chemical industry monitoring data, in May, many regions across China continued to advance special rectification of the white carbon black industry. Several high-energy-consuming, low value-added precipitation silica production lines in core production areas such as Shandong, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi completed phased shutdowns and upgrades, accelerating the pace of clearing outdated capacity. By the end of May, the concentration of effective production capacity in the industry had further increased, with leading compliant enterprises accounting for over 70% of capacity, and the industry's scattered and chaotic development pattern has fundamentally improved.

Meanwhile, green technological transformation projects are being implemented in a concentrated manner, driving the iteration and upgrading of industry production models. Traditional silica production faces pain points such as high energy consumption and large waste liquid discharge. This month, leading companies have continued to ramp up environmental protection upgrades, upgrading processes such as waste heat recovery, wastewater recycling, and exhaust purification, significantly reducing production energy consumption and pollutant emissions. Currently, leading enterprises in the industry have achieved near-zero discharge of production wastewater, with energy consumption per unit of product decreasing by more than 8% year-on-year, and fully meeting green production standards, laying a solid foundation for industry compliance and sustainable development.

Capacity upgrades directly drive product structure optimization, with high-end low-carbon silica becoming the main demand in the market. Previously, the market for homogeneous ordinary rubber-grade white carbon black was highly competitive and had limited profit margins, but this month, low-carbon fumed silica and ultra-pure modified silica suitable for high-end scenarios are in short supply. These environmentally friendly products have lower carbon emissions and higher product purity during production, not only meeting the domestic dual-carbon development requirements but also meeting the stringent standards of high-end downstream markets such as new energy, high-end intelligent equipment, and high-end daily chemicals.

The green upgrading of downstream terminal industries continues to drive explosive demand for high-end silica. In the tire sector, mainstream domestic tire companies are fully advancing the construction of green manufacturing systems, replacing traditional raw materials in bulk, and making low-carbon silica the core raw material for mass production of green tires, helping tires achieve low rolling resistance and high environmental properties. In the new energy sector, low-carbon modified silica is widely used in lithium battery separators, electrolyte additives, and other scenarios. Thanks to its excellent stability and environmental properties, it has become a key functional material supporting the new energy industry, with related orders increasing significantly this month compared to the previous year.

The foreign trade side also highlights the competitive advantages of green products. Since May, overseas markets such as Europe, America, and Southeast Asia have significantly raised environmental standards for chemical raw material imports, hindering traditional exports of ordinary white carbon black. Meanwhile, leading domestic companies have produced low-carbon, high-purity white carbon black, leveraging environmental compliance and excellent quality, leading overseas orders have continuously surged, significantly enhancing export premium capabilities, and have become the core pillar of the industry's export revenue generation.

Regarding the current state of industry development, experts have analyzed that the green structural adjustment of the white carbon dioxide industry is not a short-term trend but an inevitable direction for high-quality industrial development. In the short term, as environmental controls continue to tighten, outdated capacity will be cleared out more rapidly, market resources will further concentrate on leading green compliant enterprises, and the tight balance between supply and demand for high-end products will continue. In the long run, green and low-carbon, technological empowerment, and customized upgrades will become core industry competitiveness. In the future, the silica industry will establish a new industrial pattern of "green production, high-end supply, and precise adaptation," continuously benefiting from the long-term dividends of emerging industries such as new energy and green manufacturing.