News Information

From June 5th to 7th, nearly a hundred elite entrepreneurs and experts from the inorganic silicides and related supporting fields gathered in Xuancheng, Anhui Province, to attend the Low-Carbon Development Summit Forum of the Inorganic Silicides Industry organized by the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association. They engaged in discussions and exchanges, strengthened cooperation, learned from each other, and jointly planned for the low-carbon and high-quality development of the industry.

Yuan Longhua, former deputy director of the Raw Materials Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and chief expert of the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association, introduced that in 2024, the production and operation situation of China's inorganic silicides industry was basically stable, and even a situation of rising against the trend in the first half of the year occurred. For the whole year, the total output remained basically the same year-on-year. The average operating rate of enterprises was 69%, a decrease of 1 percentage point compared with the previous year. The prices of products across the entire industry remained basically stable, with little change in the prices of major inorganic silicides such as silica. There are numerous sodium silicate enterprises, and the product prices have dropped in the second half of the year. On the cost side, frequent fluctuations in raw material prices, rising energy prices and a significant increase in environmental protection and governance costs have further compressed the profit margins of enterprises. Some enterprises have actively responded by optimizing product structures and expanding into emerging markets, and have basically maintained overall stable operation. The overall industry performance is still acceptable and has not shown a significant decline. This is an effective boost to the confidence in the industry's development. Last year, despite the significant downward pressure on the economy and the severe and complex external macroeconomic environment, the inorganic silicide industry still achieved stable and progressive development results. This is the fruit of the concerted efforts and hard work of all industry colleagues.

Yuan Longhua pointed out that currently, the internal and external environment for China's economic development is complex and severe. There is the uncertainty of the Sino-US trade war, the predicament of "involution" competition, as well as the astonishing peak moments of Deepseek and the J-10C and PL-15. The chemical industry still faces considerable downward pressure on the economy and is confronted with three major challenges. First, the pressure for the industry to maintain a sustained and stable growth has increased. On the supply side, the global capacity is accelerating its expansion and release simultaneously. On the demand side, the pace of global economic recovery is slow, and the growth rate of downstream demand such as real estate in China has slowed down. Second, pollution control and carbon reduction are superimposed, and the pressure for the industry's green and low-carbon transformation is huge. Thirdly, the superimposition of technological blockades and supply chain security has led to increasingly fierce international competition in key core technologies. The original model of introduction, absorption, digestion and re-innovation is no longer sustainable. Some high-end chemical products in China cannot be self-sufficient, and the security and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain are facing challenges.

At the same time, the entire industry is also facing three major opportunities. First, the manufacturing industry as a whole is making a leap towards high-end. New tracks will create new demands for the chemical industry. Emerging fields such as new energy, low-altitude industries, robots, and biomanubicin will maintain a high growth rate, and the demand for high-end chemical products will be even more vigorous. Second, efficient, green and low-carbon technologies, new information technologies and new energy sources are developing rapidly. AI is driving the synthesis of new chemicals, and new chemical processes and products are emerging in a concentrated manner, providing transformation space for the industry to achieve efficient, green and digital development. Thirdly, the global chemical industry layout has undergone major adjustments, and the Belt and Road Initiative has been further implemented, providing new market space for China's product exports.

Yuan Longhua pointed out that the entire industry must correctly recognize the opportunities and challenges currently faced by its development, maintain composure, and focus on doing its own things well.

Li Xin, deputy secretary-general of the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association, pointed out that on the one hand, in the tariff game between China and the United States, as the application fields of our inorganic silicon industry continue to expand, it will still show a growth trend. Development remains the hard truth, but efforts should be made to develop new quality productive forces. In the future, production capacity will develop in a controllable and adjustable direction, and the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries is also a new quality productive force. On the other hand, with the development of AI technology, it can be said that all aspects will bring unprecedented major changes to our industry and promote the high-quality development of traditional industries. Thirdly, resources are limited, but the cycle is unlimited. The entire industry must respond to the uncertainty of rapid changes in the external environment with the certainty of high-quality development, vigorously develop a circular economy, and promote the healthy development of the industry.

Zhou Fahai, vice president of the China Inorganic Salt Industry Association and president of the Inorganic Silicides Branch, analyzed the current development status of the industry at the meeting. He pointed out that the current international economic environment is in a state of intense turbulence. The trade friction between China and the United States continues to escalate, and the chain reactions brought about by the Russia-Ukraine conflict are ongoing. Many uncertainties abound, posing huge challenges to global economic development. The domestic economy is also facing difficulties, with insufficient vitality in the consumer market and a lack of impetus for economic growth. The downward pressure on the real estate industry has intensified, and export channels have been blocked, which has led to a sharp decline in the business situation of related industries such as steel, building materials, and floor tiles. However, the inorganic silicide industry has achieved remarkable results in the market by riding on the "tailwind" of the rapid development of domestic new energy vehicles.

In terms of the development of new quality productivity, the automation and intelligence of the entire industry have been continuously upgraded. Many enterprises have simultaneously completed the construction of DCS automation control when renovating and expanding production, significantly enhancing production efficiency and accuracy. The application of gas-electricity combined technology has increased the melting rate. The successful development of the patented green, low-carbon, small and energy-saving kiln product provides a new direction for the industry's development.

Sodium silicate enterprises have been actively promoting the transformation of kilns, expanding the melting area, and achieving a significant increase in production capacity. In the first five months of this year, the operating rate of the sodium silicate industry reached approximately 80%, higher than the level of the same period last year. Through the technological transformation of kilns and the improvement of automation levels, the unit energy consumption of enterprises has decreased significantly. In terms of fuel substitution, Hunan Province will complete the coal-to-gas conversion of sodium silicate production by 2024, and Anhui Province will also complete the coal-to-gas conversion task by the end of 2025.

With the popularization of all-oxygen combustion technology, the number of enterprises adopting this technology has increased. Shandong Xinhua and Fujian Afu Silicon are actively applying it. The all-oxygen combustion technology kiln built by Nanping Yuanhe is also scheduled to be ignited and started up in September this year. Some enterprises also capture carbon from the exhaust gas after full oxygen combustion to recover carbon dioxide for the production of carbonized silica. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, some enterprises have carried out raw material innovation, using biomass raw material rice husk ash to replace quartz sand, or using tailings solid waste from mining enterprises and tailings after quartz sand production to produce low-carbon sodium silicate.

The silica industry has made significant breakthroughs in carbonization production. The carbonization silica production facility of Nanping Yuanhe has achieved a daily output of 80% of its designed capacity and has realized a circular economy model for the recovery of sodium carbonate from wastewater, reducing wastewater discharge. Fujian Zhengyuan, Wuxi Quecheng and other enterprises are also actively engaged in research and development. Enterprises such as Wuxi Quecheng and Shandong Lianke are actively exploring low-carbon production and are currently conducting trial runs to produce low-carbon silica using low-carbon sodium silicate. The product structure of the silica industry has been continuously optimized. As a green tire certified product, the proportion of highly dispersed products in silica products has been increasing, highlighting the gradual improvement of domestic enterprises' R&D capabilities. The international layout of enterprises is accelerating, and the trend of building factories overseas is becoming increasingly obvious. Southeast Asia and Brazil have become popular locations for site selection. Downstream tire enterprises also have the intention to build silica factories overseas. There are as many as seven Chinese tire factories in Vietnam and Cambodia alone. The advantages of leading enterprises are prominent. Listed companies such as Wuxi Quecheng, Shandong Lianke, Fujian Yuanxiang, Hunan Lingwei, and Guangdong Jinsanjiang, which mainly produce silica, have taken the lead in the industry competition by virtue of their strong financial strength and high investment in scientific research.

Silica sol is the fastest-growing category among the major products of silicides. The production capacity of silica sol is expected to exceed 1 million tons by 2025. In terms of silicone, due to the impact of the US tariff policy, production and operation are facing challenges. The drawback of sodium metasilicate lies in the cumbersome project approval process and strict control over the production and transportation links. The advantages are reflected in the fact that the newly added production capacity is relatively small, and the pressure of market competition has somewhat weakened. With the commissioning of the scientific research building and the development model of in-depth integration of industry, academia and research, Luoyang Jianlong has firmly held a leading position in the molecular sieve industry and has huge potential for future development.

At the forum, entrepreneurs and experts spoke freely, offered suggestions and shared new technologies and achievements of their enterprises in energy conservation, emission reduction, quality improvement and efficiency enhancement. They also expressed their determination to actively practice green development and jointly create a bright future for the industry.