Entering mid-August, sustained high temperatures have swept across China’s chemical market, marking the traditional off-season for the chemical sector. The white carbon black market has avoided drastic price swings. Stratified supply and demand, diversified product performance gaps and widening regional price disparities dominate the current market landscape. Latest data monitored by Business Society shows the benchmark price of conventional precipitated silica for rubber use stands at 6000 CNY per ton, up slightly by 1.12% compared with the price of 5933.33 CNY per ton in early August. Prices have remained steady over the past week, supported by upstream raw material costs and steady export orders. In stark contrast, high-purity fumed silica prices hold firm amid robust demand from photovoltaic, lithium battery and electronic packaging sectors. Low-grade industrial white carbon black faces weakened bargaining power due to excess capacity. The industry has fully entered a new phase where low-end products compete on price while high-end products compete on technology.
In terms of upstream cost composition, the two key raw materials for white carbon black production — sodium silicate and sulfuric acid — show regional divergence with mild overall fluctuations, imposing limited cost pressure on manufacturers. Sodium silicate, the primary feedstock for precipitated silica, is derived from quartz sand and soda ash. Ample soda ash supply amid concentrated capacity releases has kept its price subdued, offsetting mild price hikes of quartz sand. Small sodium silicate producers in East and South China have cut operating rates due to summer environmental inspections and high-temperature production restrictions, tightening local supply and pushing sodium silicate prices up by 1% to 2%. North and Northwest China see sufficient supplies with flat month-on-month prices. The sulfuric acid market varies noticeably across regions: East and South China face loose sulfuric acid supply as fertilizer and metallurgical industries slash off-season purchases, driving prices down by 2% to 3%; North and Northwest China record mild price gains of 1% to 2% backed by exports and local metallurgical demand. Overall, the comprehensive raw material cost per ton of precipitated silica has risen by 30 to 50 CNY, laying modest groundwork for slight spot price increases. Leading manufacturers benefit greatly from long-term fixed-price procurement contracts, boasting far stronger cost control capabilities than small and medium-sized producers.
The overall operating rate of the industry stays within the range of 75% to 80%, with a widening production gap between leading enterprises and small-scale factories. Top five manufacturers including Quechen Silicon Chemical, Shandong Dongyue and Jiangsu Lairui New Materials hold long-term orders scheduled until mid-to-late September. Their production facilities run at full capacity round the clock with healthy low inventory levels, prioritizing supplies for major domestic tire manufacturers, silicone producers and regular overseas buyers, leaving no incentive to slash prices for sales. Thousands of small and medium precipitated silica manufacturers face a tough situation. Frequent environmental supervision and more routine equipment maintenance in hot weather lead to unstable intermittent production. Their products suffer from severe homogenization, limited to basic low-end rubber filler silica without customized modification technologies, resulting in weak customer loyalty. Some factories cut prices moderately to secure orders for capital turnover, dragging down overall prices of low-grade products. New capacity expansion progresses slowly; only a small 10,000 to 20,000-ton precipitated silica plant is planned for launch with an undetermined commissioning date, which will not alter the overall supply-demand landscape in the short term. Fumed silica boasts high production barriers with effective domestic capacity concentrated among a handful of enterprises. High-end modified fumed silica is in tight supply with delivery cycles extended to 1 to 2 months, and the supply shortage will persist for some time.
Downstream demand presents a dual pattern: steady basic demand from traditional industries paired with booming growth in emerging sectors, reshaping the market which once solely relied on the tire industry for momentum. Tires remain the largest consumption field for white carbon black, accounting for over 68% of total market demand. Domestic automobile production and sales rise steadily alongside growing penetration of new energy vehicles, fueling surging output of low rolling-resistance green tires. New energy vehicle tires consume far more white carbon black than fuel vehicle tires: each 10,000 units of new energy vehicle tires require 12.7 tons of white carbon black, 19.3% higher than fuel tires. Domestic tire factories maintain high operating rates for steady production of radial truck tires and passenger car tires, continuously depleting inventories of high-dispersity precipitated silica. Nevertheless, affected by the off-season automobile consumption, tire manufacturers adopt on-demand procurement and low-inventory operation strategies, showing little willingness for bulk stockpiling and failing to trigger a surge in purchasing volume. Demand for conventional rubber goods such as hoses, belts and footwear rubber stays sluggish, only meeting rigid replenishment needs with limited pulling effects.
Emerging industries including photovoltaic packaging, silicone rubber sealing, lithium battery materials, optical fiber coatings and daily cosmetics have become the core growth drivers for high-end white carbon black, outpacing traditional rubber sectors in growth rate. Accelerated capacity expansion of TOPCon and HJT solar cells boosts demand for silicone sealants used in photovoltaic module encapsulation and frame bonding, leading to sharply rising demand for high-specific-surface-area fumed silica as a key reinforcing and thickening filler. High-purity impurity-free fumed silica is indispensable for lithium battery diaphragm coatings, solid-state battery packaging materials and potting adhesives for 3C electronic components. Driven by continuous capacity expansion of the new energy industry, demand for such products has jumped 34.8% year-on-year. Besides, demand remains stable for neutral silicone sealants for construction, industrial anti-corrosion coatings, ink matting agents, oral care toothpaste and food anti-caking agents, and orders for high-dispersion and hydrophilic modified special white carbon black stay abundant. Export orders maintain stable performance. Purchasing demands from Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East are released orderly. Driven by EU tire energy efficiency regulations and carbon border adjustment mechanism policies, European markets purchase large quantities of domestically produced white carbon black that meets high environmental standards, effectively digesting excess low-end domestic supply and stabilizing domestic spot prices. Faced with complex international trade conditions, domestic enterprises have accelerated the construction of overseas production bases to avoid tariff barriers and further expand export channels.
Price gradients of segmented products are distinct, with obvious price gaps brought by different production processes and specifications. The mainstream negotiated ex-factory price of general rubber-grade precipitated silica ranges from 5800 to 6200 CNY per ton. Ultra-fine 1250-mesh high-activity precipitated silica, applied in high-end scenarios such as silicone rubber and sealants, is priced at 8300 to 8600 CNY per ton. Food and pharmaceutical grade high-purity precipitated silica undergoes strict production control, with prices steadily fixed between 6400 and 6700 CNY per ton. The price gap of fumed silica is more prominent: conventional domestic grade 200 fumed silica costs 20 to 23.5 CNY per kilogram; domestic hydrophobic modified high-end fumed silica is priced at 25 to 28 CNY per kilogram; ultra-high-purity imported products from Germany and the United States sell for 28 to 38.5 CNY per kilogram and remain in short supply all year round. Regional price differences exist across domestic markets: the average ex-factory price of general industrial white carbon black in Central China stands at 5000 CNY per ton; rubber-grade products in South China are traded between 5000 and 5700 CNY per ton. Shandong Province boasts the most complete product categories, with low-end powder priced at 3500 CNY per ton and rising prices for high-end modified products. Traders transfer goods according to actual demand, and market circulation is mild and rational.
Industrial policies, low-carbon transformation and domestic substitution serve as the long-term core themes that reshape the industry competition landscape comprehensively. The new clean production standards for silicon-based new materials have been fully implemented, raising the thresholds for wastewater recycling rate and waste gas pollutant emission limits. A large number of backward inefficient production capacities failing environmental assessments have been phased out, pushing up industrial concentration. The combined market share of the top five enterprises has reached 61.4%, rising by 3.2 percentage points year-on-year. The official launch of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism covers the entire carbon emission chain of chemical raw materials, forcing domestic white carbon black manufacturers to upgrade low-carbon production processes. Rice husk-based bio-synthetic white carbon black and low-energy low-temperature synthesis technologies have achieved mass production gradually, granting green low-carbon products prominent export advantages. Meanwhile, frequent anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations targeting Chinese products overseas have accelerated the domestic substitution process of high-end fumed silica. At present, the self-sufficiency rate of domestic high-end fumed silica has climbed to 86.7%, greatly reducing import reliance, and only ultra-high-purity special grades for semiconductor applications still rely on small-scale imports.
Industry chemical research institutions have released forecasts on future market trends: in the short run from late August to early September, the market will maintain a mild upward trend. Conventional precipitated silica is expected to rise by 100 to 300 CNY per ton with moderate gains; backed by rigid demand from photovoltaic and lithium battery industries, high-end fumed silica prices will stay firm and easy to rise rather than fall. After September, the traditional peak sales season for rubber and coating industries arrives, downstream purchasing demand will be released intensively, coupled with stocking preparation before the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, the overall white carbon black market is expected to embrace an upward cycle. In the long term, the industry will bid farewell to vicious price competition. Surface modification, customized formulation development, low-carbon environmental protection and ultra-fine high-purity technology will become core competitiveness. Leading enterprises will continuously expand market share relying on advantages in production capacity, technology, customer resources and cost control, while the living space of small and medium enterprises featuring homogeneous low-end products will keep shrinking. The whole industry will forge ahead steadily toward refinement, high-end development and green production.
