In late October 2026, environmental renovation and resource utilization projects are being rolled out intensively in China’s precipitated silica industry. Complete processes including wastewater recycling, waste gas and waste heat recovery, and by-product resource recovery are gradually gaining popularity. Green production capacity has become a core competitive advantage for precipitated silica manufacturers. Industry monitoring data shows that the market for standard precipitated silica remains in a loose supply-demand pattern, with mainstream ex-factory quotations fluctuating within the range of 6350-6440 CNY per ton and lacking upward momentum. Demand from downstream traditional shoe-making and ordinary rubber miscellaneous parts sectors is weak. End-user enterprises face heavy pressure on capital turnover and maintain conservative procurement strategies, purchasing only for immediate needs and strictly controlling inventory levels. Traders hold a wait-and-see attitude and are reluctant to stock goods actively. Most transactions are long-term framework orders from regular clients, and there is ample bargaining room for sporadic small orders. East China boasts sufficient spot supply and fierce market competition. Restricted by raw material transportation costs, spot transaction prices in Southwest and Central China are slightly higher. Most manufacturers of standard grades flexibly adjust operating rates and reduce output to digest inventories and ease operational pressure.

　　On the supply side, precipitated silica enterprises accelerate closed-loop transformation across the whole production process. The traditional precipitation method features high water consumption and large waste output, which has long been an environmental pain point of the industry. In recent years, leading enterprises have successively launched waste heat recovery and multi-effect evaporation and crystallization equipment. The waste heat from spray drying tail gas is used to treat production wastewater, recover by-product salts, and recycle production water, greatly cutting fresh water consumption and total wastewater discharge. Some enterprises explore a new carbon dioxide acidification process to replace the traditional sulfuric acid acidification route, reducing the generation of acidic waste liquid and realizing the external sales of carbonate by-products as resources. Policies on dual control of environmental protection and energy consumption keep tightening. Small and medium-sized production lines with inadequate environmental supporting facilities and low resource utilization rates are continuously restricted, inefficient backward capacity exits the market at an accelerated pace, and industrial concentration rises steadily. The continuous fluctuation of prices of upstream sodium silicate, sulfuric acid and electricity forces enterprises to rely on resource-based technical upgrades to lower unit energy and raw material consumption and hedge cost pressure. Many manufacturers simultaneously carry out product carbon footprint accounting. Leveraging the advantages of green production lines, they meet the green procurement requirements of domestic and overseas customers.

　　On the demand side, downstream customers keep raising the threshold for green procurement. In raw material bidding, leading enterprises in tire, organosilicon, coating and adhesive industries add assessment indicators such as environmental compliance, water resource consumption and waste emission, and give priority to powder suppliers with resource-based production capacity. Demand for tire-grade high-dispersion precipitated silica remains stable. The continuous expansion of new energy tire formulations drives steady growth in orders for high-end powder. Fumed silica enjoys rising demand in emerging tracks such as photovoltaic sealing, electronic potting and lithium battery separator coating. In niche segments including coatings, inks and cosmetic polishing, inquiries for modified specialty precipitated silica keep increasing. Demand in traditional rubber and shoe-making sectors stays sluggish, with only basic demand-oriented procurement. These sectors are highly price-sensitive and mainly purchase ordinary precipitated silica. Carbon black prices remain at a high level, speeding up the filler substitution verification of rubber product manufacturers, and environmentally friendly high-performance precipitated silica gains further advantages in substitution.

　　In foreign trade, green production qualifications have gradually become access thresholds for export orders. With the continuous implementation of EU environmental regulations and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, precipitated silica products exported to Europe need certificates related to environmental protection and carbon footprint in the production process in addition to performance indicators. Overseas inquiries for precipitated silica enterprises that have completed resource-based technical upgrades keep rising, and customers in Europe and Southeast Asia engaged in tire and new material businesses increase sample evaluation. Exports of ordinary precipitated silica face pressure. The continuous release of local capacity in Southeast Asia brings low-cost competing products to the market. Coupled with fluctuations in ocean freight and exchange rates, export growth of conventional grades remains weak. Foreign trade enterprises are more cautious when accepting large long-term orders and prefer short-cycle orders to avoid risks brought by market volatility. High-end pharmaceutical and semiconductor-grade specialty precipitated silica still partially relies on imports. Domestic enterprises keep tackling high-purity preparation and surface modification technologies, and import substitution in high-end fields moves forward steadily.

　　Market outlook: In the short run, China’s precipitated silica market continues to see structural divergence. Standard precipitated silica operates weakly and stably with slow inventory digestion, while demand for high-end modified precipitated silica produced by green processes maintains resilience. In the medium and long term, continuously stricter environmental supervision and upgraded green procurement standards of downstream industries will continuously promote resource-based transformation of the sector. Future industrial competition is no longer limited to product performance and price. The capacity of wastewater, waste gas and solid waste resource utilization and low-carbon production systems will become core competitiveness of enterprises. Leading enterprises that have completed green technical upgrades will keep expanding their advantages, while small and medium manufacturers with weak environmental supporting facilities and high resource consumption will face mounting survival pressure. Follow-up attention should be paid to updates of industrial environmental policies, the commissioning progress of three-waste resource utilization projects, and changes in green raw material bidding standards of downstream tire and new material manufacturers.