(August 10, 2026)Toward the end of early August, intense heat has receded across most regions of China, and production conditions in downstream manufacturing sectors including rubber products, industrial coatings and construction materials have kept improving. China’s white carbon black market has fully emerged from the downturn caused by the hot off-season in July, with overall trading activity picking up steadily. Based on comprehensive analysis of industrial chain monitoring data released by major chemical information platforms, the average transaction price of mainstream rubber-grade precipitated white carbon black edged up nationwide on August 10. The market generally features recovering rigid purchasing demand, obvious inventory divergence across different product grades and escalating games between upstream and downstream participants. The gap in market performance between precipitated white carbon black and fumed white carbon black has kept widening, while high-end filler products applied in the new energy sector have maintained a sound and steady momentum all along.

　　Precipitated white carbon black accounts for the vast majority of China’s white carbon black market, and its price fluctuations can directly reflect the prosperity level of the whole industry. In July, persistent sweltering weather prevailed nationwide. Affected by high-temperature power rationing and temperature control policies, factories in many areas lowered their operating rates. Tire manufacturers, rubber sealing component processors, conveyor belt producers, as well as factories producing anti-corrosion coatings and daily plastic goods all cut production plans, only purchasing raw materials in small quantities as needed. Market inquiries remained scarce and spot trading stayed sluggish. Most traders were saddled with large inventories and faced mounting pressure on capital turnover. After temperatures dropped in August, downstream terminal factories resumed full-capacity production one after another. Coupled with rising expectations of stockpiling ahead of the traditional busy September season, raw material purchasing demand across the entire rubber industrial chain surged collectively. Recently, spot trading volume has risen by more than 20% compared with the same period last month.
Nevertheless, the long-standing problem of excess low-end capacity in the industry has not been effectively resolved. Numerous small and medium-sized manufacturers hold high inventories of conventional white carbon black. To speed up capital recovery, merchants generally sell goods at discounted prices, which directly limits room for price hikes of common products and only brings mild tentative increases. Price gaps between segmented products keep expanding. Conventional loose precipitated white carbon black is sold smoothly with mainstream factory prices ranging from 5,600 to 5,800 RMB / ton. Anti-settling microsphere grades tailored for coating systems are steadily quoted between 5,850 and 6,100 RMB / ton. High-reinforcement and high-dispersion white carbon black specially developed for low rolling resistance new energy vehicle tires is in tight supply. Leading domestic tire enterprises place long-term fixed orders, keeping transaction prices stable between 6,300 and 6,700 RMB / ton. Ultra-fine high-purity white carbon black used as food anticaking agents and pharmaceutical excipients enjoys stable demand all year round, barely affected by seasonal fluctuations, with prices firmly maintained at 6,400 to 6,800 RMB / ton.

　　Overseas export trade serves as a crucial pillar shoring up the market performance of precipitated white carbon black. Infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America have been launched and put into operation successively, creating large capacity gaps in local rubber processing and architectural coating industries. China’s export orders for white carbon black have increased steadily. Boasting remarkable cost performance, domestic high-end tire-specific white carbon black has continuously captured overseas market shares once dominated by time-honored European and American chemical enterprises, yielding prominent results in both import substitution and outbound exports. China’s total export volume of white carbon black rose by 12.7% month-on-month in the past month. Massive overseas orders have effectively digested excess low-end domestic inventory, relieved sales pressure in the domestic market and consolidated the bottom of spot prices.

　　Structural polarization is more prominent in the fumed white carbon black market, whose overall trend is jointly determined by fluctuations in upstream raw material costs and changing demand from emerging industries. Methyltrichlorosilane, the core raw material for fumed white carbon black, lies in the upper reaches of the organosilicon industrial chain. This summer, staggered production and energy consumption control policies have been implemented across many regions in China, restricting the operating rates of organosilicon monomer production units and tightening raw material supply. Procurement costs have climbed slightly, delivering moderate upward momentum to fumed white carbon black prices from the cost side. Demand varies sharply across segments. Traditional application sectors see sluggish demand; purchasing activities for architectural sealants, general silicone rubber and ordinary plastic reinforcement proceed slowly, with market transactions mostly consisting of scattered small replenishment orders. In contrast, demand from new energy and fine chemical sectors such as photovoltaic encapsulant adhesives, lithium battery separator coatings, electronic potting adhesives, high-end liquid silicone rubber, thermal conductive gaskets and cosmetic raw materials keeps expanding. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic modified high-end fumed white carbon black is in short supply, leading to extended order cycles at manufacturers and firming prices. On the contrary, demand for mid-to-low end general fumed white carbon black remains weak, and most producers arrange production according to orders to digest inventories. Currently, the overall operating rate of China’s fumed white carbon black industry stands at around 65%. Enterprises take the initiative to cut production capacity to avoid losses caused by low-price sales.

　　Green low-carbon transformation and high-end product upgrading have become an irreversible development trend for the white carbon black industry. With the formal implementation of the global carbon tariff system and increasingly stringent low-carbon access standards for overseas purchasers, leading domestic white carbon black enterprises have successively developed low-carbon circular production processes. Silica extracted from renewable waste including rice husk ash, industrial waste silica residue and organosilicon production byproducts is adopted to manufacture white carbon black. This approach drastically cuts the consumption of fossil fuels and product carbon emissions, which not only satisfies overseas low-carbon procurement requirements but also further elevates the international competitiveness of domestic products. Meanwhile, the industry is accelerating the phase-out of outdated, high-energy-consuming and inferior production lines, reducing homogeneous low-end capacity and concentrating research and development resources on specialty new materials including white carbon black dedicated to lithium battery coatings, optical high-transparency fillers, pharmaceutical high-purity silica and aerogel composite modified white carbon black, so as to break away from the long-standing predicament of vicious price competition driven by homogenization. Many enterprises have deepened university-industry-research cooperation to conduct surface graft modification on white carbon black powder, optimizing its dispersibility and compatibility with various substrates and continuously broadening product application scenarios.

　　Multiple chemical research institutions have analyzed and predicted the future market trend. In mid-to-late August, peak season demand from downstream rubber and coating industries will be fully released, coupled with a concentrated stockpiling boom ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival. High-dispersion precipitated white carbon black, modified fumed white carbon black and food & pharmaceutical-grade high-purity white carbon black still have room for price increases. Restrained by ample inventories, conventional general precipitated white carbon black is likely to continue narrow sideways fluctuations at low levels. Three influencing factors require sustained attention: adjustments to energy consumption control policies, price swings of upstream organosilicon raw materials and changes in overseas foreign trade orders. In the long run, China’s white carbon black industry has stepped into a brand-new stage of structural development. Upward prices for high-end products and downward pressure on low-end varieties will become the norm, and the new energy and high-end advanced materials sectors will act as the core growth drivers of the industry for a long time.