(June 5, 2026) Recently, the domestic silica industry has seen major technological breakthroughs, with multiple high-end fumed-phase silica and ultrapure modified silica products completing mass production and downstream end-user certification, completely breaking the long-standing monopoly of overseas companies. In the first half of 2026, China's white carbon black industry will bid farewell to low-end homogeneous competition. Through core process technology iterations, it will achieve full localization coverage of high-end silica in photovoltaics, lithium batteries, and high-end silicone rubber fields, officially entering a new stage of technology-driven high-quality development.
For a long time, China's silica production capacity has ranked first globally, but the industrial structure is highly polarized. Traditional precipitation methods for silica have overcapacity and fierce competition, while high-purity, highly dispersed, and hydrophobic premium fumed silica, due to complex production processes and high purification technology barriers, was long monopolized by overseas companies like Wacker and Cabot. Domestic sectors such as new energy, high-end electronics, and precision manufacturing heavily rely on imported products, resulting not only in high procurement costs but also at supply chain disruption risks, becoming a shortcoming restricting the development of China's high-end new materials industry.
Since 2026, leading domestic silica companies have continued to increase R&D investment, focusing on breakthroughs in high-end product technologies, achieving disruptive breakthroughs in core production processes, formula modification, and purification and refining. The company optimized the vapor phase synthesis process, overcoming industry challenges such as uneven product particle size, substandard purity, and poor hydrophobic stability, and developed ultra-pure fumed silica suitable for high-end scenarios. Testing shows that the core indicators of domestic high-end silica products—such as specific surface area, dispersion, weather resistance, and insulation—all reach world-class standards. Some specialized performance parameters surpass imported products and can fully replace similar overseas products.
Currently, domestically produced high-end silica has successfully passed the stringent certifications of leading domestic photovoltaic companies, power battery companies, and high-end silicone manufacturers, achieving large-scale mass supply. In the photovoltaic field, domestically modified silica is used in photovoltaic strips and sealants, significantly improving anti-aging and yellowing resistance, helping photovoltaic modules achieve a lifespan of over 30 years; In the new energy lithium battery sector, ultra-high pure white carbon is used as an electrolyte additive and separator coating filler, effectively enhancing battery stability and safety; In scenarios such as electronic silicone rubber, precision plastics, and high-end coatings, the penetration rate of domestic products continues to rise rapidly.
Industry data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, domestic high-end white carbon black imports dropped sharply by 28.6% year-on-year, marking the first significant drop in high-end white carbon dioxide imports in nearly a decade, highlighting the effectiveness of domestic substitution. Meanwhile, domestic high-end white carbon black, leveraging its high cost-performance advantage, is being exported to high-end markets such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea, completely reversing the trade deficit pattern in imports and exports of high-end products. Compared to imported products, domestic high-end silica shortens the supply cycle by 60% and reduces procurement costs by more than 20% on the basis of equal quality, greatly lowering the production costs for domestic downstream high-end manufacturing enterprises.
Industry experts say that this breakthrough in localizing high-end white carbon black technology marks China's complete breakthrough from the development dilemma of being "large but not strong," completing the transformation from a "large capacity country" to a "technology powerhouse." With the successive commissioning of multiple high-end intelligent production lines for white carbon black, the industry will continue to squeeze the space for import substitution, accelerate the elimination of low-end and outdated capacity, and promote the entire white carbon black industry to upgrade toward refinement, high-end, and high value-added development.
Looking ahead, as the new energy, photovoltaics, and high-end electronics industries continue to expand, demand for high-end silica will keep exploding, technological innovation will become the industry's core competitive barrier, and domestic companies are expected to continue seizing the global premium market discourse.
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