(August 11, 2026)On August 11, 2026, China’s white carbon black market entered a steady upward phase. After the sluggish demand and bleak transactions of the July off-season, downstream terminal industries including rubber and plastic, coatings and photovoltaic supporting sectors have successively launched pre-peak stockpiling. Market inquiry activity and total spot trading volume have climbed steadily. Prices of upstream basic chemical raw materials such as soda ash, sulfuric acid, water glass and organosilicon monomers have edged up moderately, firmly establishing a cost foundation for product prices. The traditional tire and rubber industry is building inventories for the autumn and winter sales peak, while demand surges in emerging tracks such as photovoltaic encapsulant adhesives, energy storage insulating materials and rubber & plastic accessories for new energy vehicles. These favorable factors jointly drive a mild recovery across the white carbon black market. Nevertheless, long-standing structural industrial contradictions remain unresolved. Conventional general-grade precipitated silica suffers from severe overcapacity and mounting inventory backlogs, lacking momentum for price hikes. By contrast, supplies of modified functional silica applied to green tires, electronic potting and premium daily chemicals have tightened with endless domestic and overseas orders, continuously widening price gaps among regions and product tiers.

　　In terms of nationwide spot quotations, tiered differentiation in the white carbon black market has become more prominent this week. Statistics monitored by chemical big data platforms indicate the average domestic price of precipitated silica has risen slightly. As the core national hub for production and distribution, East China offers tax-inclusive ex-factory prices ranging from 6,100 to 6,450 yuan per ton for high-dispersion precipitated silica exclusively formulated for new energy passenger vehicle tires. In northern and southern producing areas including Shandong, Hebei, Fujian and northern Jiangsu, sales of ordinary industrial filler-grade precipitated silica face considerable resistance, with mainstream spot transaction prices falling between 5,360 and 5,920 yuan per ton. Dragged by weak downstream demand, low-end filler-grade silica has lingered at low prices for a long time, with the average transaction price below 2,820 yuan per ton. High-purity specialty silica for food anticaking agents and pharmaceutical carriers maintains stable prices above 6,750 yuan per ton, underpinned by strict production thresholds and steady rigid demand. Benefiting from tightened upstream organosilicon supply, the fumed silica market remains consistently strong. Domestic conventional hydrophilic fumed silica is quoted at 20,600–24,200 yuan per ton, while premium hydrophobically modified fumed silica holds steady at 26,200–29,400 yuan per ton. Imported high-end hydrophobic fumed silica is in acute spot shortage; delivery schedules are generally postponed to the end of September, with quotations ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 yuan per ton.

　　Cost support continues to take effect, solidly underpinning the market price floor. Soda ash, the primary raw material for precipitated silica, has entered its annual centralized maintenance cycle. Multiple domestic soda ash production lines have been shut down for overhaul, reducing market circulation and lifting spot prices by roughly 530 yuan per ton month-on-month. Sulfuric acid prices edged up amid rebounding operating rates in downstream fertilizer and metallurgical industries alongside routine plant maintenance. Firm quotations of industrial silicon and methylchlorosilanes have directly raised overall processing costs for fumed silica. Meanwhile, China has intensified energy consumption control and environmental governance. Mandatory assessment criteria covering wastewater resource recycling, comprehensive treatment of by-product sodium sulfate and energy consumption quotas per unit product have been fully implemented. A large number of small and medium-sized manufacturers with outdated technologies, substandard environmental compliance and excessive energy consumption have been forced to cut output, suspend production or exit the market. Industrial capacity resources keep concentrating among leading enterprises, effectively curbing chaotic vicious low-price competition.

　　Downstream demand follows a dual-driving pattern: recovery in traditional segments and robust expansion of emerging sectors. The tire and rubber industry remains the largest consumption market for white carbon black. As the traditional autumn and winter sales season approaches, major domestic tire manufacturers have gradually raised production line operating loads. Formulations for new energy vehicle tires are continuously optimized and upgraded, lifting the proportion of high-dispersion silica year after year. Capable of lowering rolling resistance, extending electric vehicle mileage, enhancing grip on rainy and snowy roads and prolonging tire service life, this grade boasts full order backlogs and brisk production and sales. Manufacturers of traditional rubber and plastic products such as rubber hoses, sealing gaskets, rubber shoe soles and transmission belts only conduct small-scale replenishment on demand, without large-scale centralized stockpiling.

　　Demand from water-based eco-friendly coatings, home renovation and outdoor building protection sectors has been steadily released. The rising penetration rate of water-based eco-friendly coatings fuels steady growth in consumption of white carbon black as a rheology regulator, matting agent and pigment anti-settling additive. With the arrival of autumn, urban exterior wall renovation, stone conservation, concrete waterproofing and anti-seepage projects for bridges and underground spaces launch intensively, expanding application scenarios for hydrophobic silica compounded with silane systems. Silicone sealants for photovoltaic module encapsulation, potting adhesives for energy storage battery modules and insulating silicone rubber for electronic components have emerged as new growth drivers. Steady expansion of China’s newly installed photovoltaic capacity boosts the silicone rubber industry, pushing the year-on-year consumption growth rate of white carbon black in this segment above 15%. Custom trial orders and bulk procurement requests for ultra-fine modified precipitated silica and hydrophobic fumed silica keep pouring in. In addition, steady demand growth in fine chemical subdivisions including pesticide sustained-release carriers, thickening raw materials for skincare products and feed anticaking additives continues to broaden the overall application landscape of white carbon black.

　　Production scheduling strategies vary sharply across suppliers. The precipitated silica sector features massive overall capacity, and inventories of low-end generic products remain excessively high. To avoid losses from unsold goods, small and medium-sized factories maintain operating rates between 76% and 83%, strictly adhering to the production-to-order principle and cutting output of low-end filler products. Leading enterprises have proactively adjusted product portfolios by slashing capacity for low-priced bulk goods and concentrating resources on manufacturing functional silica including tire-specific high-dispersion, hydrophobically modified and ultra-fine nano grades, which effectively eases inventory pressure and steadily lifts overall profitability. Restrained by insufficient upstream organosilicon monomer supply, the overall operating rate of the fumed silica sector stays low at 67%–70%, with limited total spot inventories and strong resistance against price declines. Exports deliver solid performance. Steady demand for infrastructure and construction materials in Southeast Asia, green tires in Europe and daily rubber and plastic products in Latin America continuously lifts global recognition of high-performance Chinese white carbon black. Ample overseas orders effectively alleviate fierce competition in the domestic low-end market and serve as a core engine driving industrial revenue growth.

　　The industry is accelerating green low-carbon technological transformation and high-end R&D. Domestic new material enterprises keep making breakthroughs in core preparation technologies for high-dispersion silica, bringing key performance indicators such as reinforcing capacity, weather resistance, anti-aging property, wear resistance and tear resistance gradually in line with top international brands and speeding up import substitution for high-end products. Widespread adoption of recycled production wastewater and recovered by-product sodium sulfate reduces total pollutant emissions while cutting comprehensive production and operational costs for enterprises. Globally, major overseas chemical conglomerates continue expanding white carbon black capacity in North America to support green tire manufacturing. This opens up more overseas opportunities for Chinese suppliers while intensifying international competition.

　　Comprehensive assessments from multiple chemical research institutions conclude: the traditional peak consumption season will fully kick off from late August to early September. Tire and rubber goods manufacturers will markedly ramp up stockpiling, and stable upstream raw material costs will offer solid support, leaving room for a mild uptick across the whole white carbon black market. However, excess capacity of conventional precipitated silica cannot be fully digested in the short term, ruling out sharp price hikes; prices will generally trend slightly upward amid fluctuations. High-dispersion tire-specific silica, hydrophobic fumed silica and new energy-oriented modified silica will remain in tight supply, witnessing far larger price increases than ordinary industrial-grade varieties. In the long run, phasing out backward low-end capacity, deepening R&D on functional modification technologies, capturing dividends from the new energy industry and steadily expanding overseas export channels are the inevitable path for China’s white carbon black industry to escape vicious low-price competition and achieve green, high-end, high-quality and sustainable development.