Keywords: Silicone oil price rising, import premium, high-end supply gap, domestic substitution, spot tightness, latest quotation
Core Sentence: Both domestic and imported silicone oil prices continue to rise, with the import premium narrowing slightly; domestic enterprises accelerate high-end R&D to alleviate the supply gap of special silicone oil.
On March 31, the domestic silicone oil market showed a strong upward trend, with both domestic and imported products rising simultaneously and tight spot supply. The latest mainstream quotations are as follows: domestic methyl silicone oil is quoted at 16,000–16,200 RMB/ton, vinyl silicone oil at 16,200–17,500 RMB/ton; imported silicone oil quotations are slightly adjusted, with Momentive silicone oil at 22,000–24,000 RMB/ton, Shin-Etsu KF-96 silicone oil at 24,000–26,000 RMB/ton, Dow Corning silicone oil at 18,000–18,500 RMB/ton, and Wacker silicone oil at 18,100–18,600 RMB/ton. The average price of imported silicone oil increased by 500–800 RMB/ton compared with the previous week, but the premium over domestic products narrowed slightly to 6,000–9,800 RMB/ton.
The structural contradiction in the domestic silicone oil market still exists: the supply of conventional products is sufficient, but the high-end special silicone oil (such as electronic-grade, medical-grade silicone oil) is still in short supply, and most domestic enterprises rely on imports to meet production needs. However, driven by the continuous price hike of imported products and the policy guidance of import substitution, domestic leading enterprises have accelerated the R&D and production of high-end silicone oil, and some enterprises have achieved breakthroughs in electronic-grade silicone oil technology, gradually reducing their reliance on imports. In addition, the price of cracked silicone oil is relatively stable, with cracked DMC at 11,500–11,800 RMB/ton and cracked silicone oil at 12,800–13,100 RMB/ton, which has become a cost-saving choice for some low-end downstream enterprises.
Market feedback shows that the tight supply of imported silicone oil is mainly due to the global supply contraction caused by the capacity reduction of international giants and the increase in overseas demand. At the same time, domestic downstream enterprises have strong demand for high-end silicone oil in fields such as new energy vehicles, electronics, and medical care, which further pushes up the price of imported products. Industry experts point out that the persistent high-end supply gap will accelerate the pace of domestic enterprises’ R&D and production of high-end silicone oil, and the import substitution process is expected to speed up in the next 1–2 years, and the import premium is likely to continue to narrow.
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