Mid-August has arrived, and China’s silica market remains stuck in the traditional summer demand off-season with an increasingly pronounced divergent trend. Plagued by the slack season of the tire industry, conventional precipitated silica sees sluggish trading and mild price declines. By contrast, backed by steady rigid demand from emerging sectors including organosilicon, photovoltaic encapsulation and lithium battery materials, fumed silica faces tight supply and maintains firm market prices. Multiple factors including fluctuating upstream raw material costs, adjusted production loads of manufacturers and changing purchasing rhythms of end customers intertwine, forming a bipolar landscape of "weak low-end market and robust high-end market" across the silica industry.

　　Upstream raw materials offer limited overall cost support, while price gaps between northern and southern regions keep widening. The core raw material for precipitated silica, sodium silicate, enjoys a loose supply-demand landscape nationwide with abundant stock from mainstream manufacturers. Only small processing plants in parts of East China temporarily cut production due to periodic environmental inspections, which fails to reverse the overall ample supply. Driven by mild price hikes of quartz sand and soda ash, the ex-factory price of sodium silicate edges upward, moderately lifting the cost baseline of precipitated silica; yet the modest increase cannot fuel a substantial price surge of finished silica products. Sulfuric acid exhibits striking regional discrepancies: chemical hubs in South and East China suffer from inventory backlogs and heavy sales pressure, leading to a month-on-month price drop; North and Northwest China witness slight sulfuric acid price rises owing to increased long-distance logistics fees and steady industrial rigid demand. The north-south raw material cost gap directly triggers obvious disparities in negotiated silica prices across different regions. Overall, upstream materials cannot deliver strong upward momentum, leaving precipitated silica lacking incentives for price hikes.

　　The industry maintains stable overall operating rates with stark disparities in product supply structure. Currently, the comprehensive operating rate of domestic silica ranges from 76% to 81%. Large-scale leading manufacturers keep full production to fulfill long-term contracts, maintain low inventory levels and deliver steady supplies. Constrained by slim profit margins, routine equipment maintenance and environmental regulations, small and medium-sized producers arrange production on demand to avoid inventory overstock and adjust operating rates flexibly. New capacity expansion has slowed down recently, with no large-scale new projects scheduled for commissioning, which will not disturb the existing supply-demand balance in the short run. In terms of product availability, conventional industrial-grade precipitated silica is sufficiently stocked with considerable room for negotiation. High-specific-surface-area, high-dispersity tire-grade precipitated silica and domestic premium fumed silica have grown scarce, with many manufacturers extending delivery cycles. Affected by overseas capacity allocation and shipping delays, imported high-purity fumed silica arrives in limited quantities, further highlighting its shortage. Current mainstream tax-inclusive quotations are listed as follows: general rubber-grade precipitated silica: 6,450–7,450 RMB per ton; mid-range domestic fumed silica: 20.2–23.8 RMB per kilogram; premium fumed silica tailored for photovoltaic and organosilicon: 25.3–28.6 RMB per kilogram; imported high-purity fumed silica: 29–39 RMB per kilogram, presenting a clear price hierarchy.

　　Bipolar downstream demand stands as the core feature of the current market. As the largest traditional consumption field for silica, the tire and rubber sector is now in its demand off-season. Slumping vehicle production and sales result in mounting finished tire inventory, prompting tire factories to slash operating rates. Buyers only restock to meet immediate needs with no intention of bulk purchasing, which directly curbs transaction volumes of ordinary precipitated silica. Nevertheless, the lightweight upgrade of green tires moves forward steadily, and the gradual substitution of carbon black by high-dispersity silica remains a long-term trend, underpinning the market of high-grade precipitated silica. On the contrary, demand from emerging application sectors keeps expanding vigorously. Robust mass production of various silicone rubbers, liquid silicone rubbers and silicone gels generates indispensable demand for fumed silica as reinforcing filler, serving as the primary driving force for fumed silica consumption. Booming sales of photovoltaic sealants and thermal conductive potting materials continuously consume ultra-fine fumed silica. The lithium battery separator coating sector enjoys explosive growth, with year-on-year demand surge exceeding 45%, evolving into a brand-new growth track for high-end silica. Besides, steady rigid demand from ink and coatings, food anticaking agents, daily cosmetics and feed additives brings continuous scattered orders, effectively offsetting the demand deficit caused by the sluggish tire industry.

　　Industry analysts forecast that the divergent market pattern will persist throughout late August. Conventional precipitated silica will remain suppressed by the off-season, with prices likely to edge down slightly and flexible negotiation margins available. Benefiting from sustained rigid demand and tight supply, high-end fumed silica will keep prices stable. When September arrives, the tire industry will usher in its traditional stocking peak, alongside a recovery in the construction and coatings sectors. Downstream overall purchasing demand will pick up, paving the way for a comprehensive rebound and price upturn across all silica grades.

　　Anhui IOTA boasts a full industrial chain layout in organosilicon. We supply precipitated silica of diverse specific surface areas and a complete portfolio of fumed silica products, widely applied in rubber reinforcement, organosilicon fillers, photovoltaic adhesives, lithium battery separators, daily chemicals and coatings. Customized indicators, spot supplies for small and bulk orders are available. We also provide technical services including filler formulation matching and formula debugging to meet sample testing and bulk procurement demands of manufacturers.