The development of organosilicon monomer industry accelerated

In recent years, China's organic silicon monomer capacity and output have continued to grow. By the end of 2021, China's methylsiloxane production capacity and production exceeded 60% of the global total, and its consumption exceeded 50% of the global total, and it is still in the stage of rapid development. It is expected that by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", the production capacity of silicone monomer in China will exceed 6 million tons/year, accounting for more than 70% of the global production capacity of silicone methyl monomer. However, from the analysis of the import and export status of China's primary form of siloxane, high-end silicone products are still dependent on imports, and the phenomenon of large but not strong still exists.  

Capacity continues to rise  

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China's organic silicon monomer capacity, output and load rate have continued to grow.  

According to statistics, from 2012 to 2021, the compound annual growth rate of China's organic silicon monomer production capacity is 6.3%, and the compound growth rate in recent five years is 8%. By the end of 2021, China's organic silicon monomer production capacity reached 3.81 million tons/year, up 15.28% year on year, accounting for about 61.6% of the global organic silicon monomer production capacity.  

From 2012 to 2021, the compound annual growth rate of organic silicon monomer production in China is 10.26%, and the compound growth rate in recent 5 years is 8.9%. By the end of 2021, China's production of organosiloxane reached 1.59 million tons, up 18.83 percent year-on-year. In addition, China's organic silicon monomer device load rate continues to rise, the load rate in 2021 as high as nearly 90%.  

Based on the known planned expansion and new projects, it is expected that the growth trend of China's organic silicon monomer capacity will continue in the "14th Five-year plan".  

According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2022, the successful trial run of the three enterprises will increase the capacity of organosilicon monomer by 700,000 tons/year. There are 13 organosilicone methyl monomer enterprises in China (including foreign enterprises), among which 6 enterprises are expanding and upgrading, with a production capacity of nearly 1.4 million tons per year. According to public information reports, there are at least 15 enterprises in China planning to expand and build new silicone methyl monomer units, of which the planned expansion capacity of nearly 3 million tons/year. It is expected that by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the production capacity of organic silicone methyl monomer in China will exceed 6 million tons/year, accounting for more than 70% of the global production capacity of organic silicone methyl monomer.  

The rapid expansion of silicone monomer production is conducive to the balance of the market. In recent years, there is a shortage of supply in the upstream market of silicone, and the price fluctuation is very large, which has a great impact on the downstream industry. With the growth of production capacity, it can not only meet the urgent demand of various industries for silicone products, but also promote the silicone industry to become bigger and stronger.  

However, it is worth noting that the investment enthusiasm of silicone monomer is high, and the new and reconstruction and expansion projects continue to increase rapidly. There is the risk of periodic overcapacity, and supply may exceed demand. This should arouse the attention of the manufacturers, control the risk well, and strengthen the innovation research and the development of high-performance product technology of silicone downstream.  

Growth of export scale  

China's primary form of siloxane import and export products mainly include dimethylcyclosiloxane mixture (DMC), silicone oil, raw rubber, liquid silicone rubber (LSR), mixed silicone rubber, sealant, 107 rubber, etc. According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs, from 2012 to 2021, the import quantity of China's primary form of siloxane fluctuated little and was basically flat, while the export quantity continued to rise.  

It is understood that in 2014, China's primary form of siloxane net export for the first time, after China's primary form of siloxane net export quantity continues to rise. From 2017 to 2021, the compound growth rate was 27.27%; The average net exports in 2020 and 2021 increased by more than 90.56% compared with 2019, and by 165.93% in 2021 compared with 2020.  

From 2012 to 2021, the compound annual growth rate of China's primary form of siloxane exports was 16.37%, and the compound growth rate in the recent five years was 15.37%, especially in the recent two years, the average export volume in 2020 and 2021 increased by 38.22% compared with that in 2019.  

From 2012 to 2021, China's export of primary siloxane continued to rise, with a compound growth rate of 14.91%, and a compound growth rate of 25.76% in the past five years. Among them, the value of exports in 2021 reached us $1.585 billion, an increase of 119.3% over the previous year. The average value of exports in 2020 and 2021 increased by more than 52.92 percent compared with 2019.  

Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and the high cost of overseas silicone, the production capacity of silicone monomer in foreign countries may be withdrawn in recent years, and it is expected that the export volume of China's silicone products will continue to grow.  

Lack of high-end products  

Although the capacity of primary forms of siloxane has increased significantly in recent years, high-end products are still dependent on imports.  

From 2012 to 2021, the import amount of primary siloxane in China increased slightly, with a compound growth rate of 2.4%. Of this, imports in 2021 amounted to $928 million, up 13.84 percent from the previous year.  

From the analysis of average import unit price, the average import price of primary form siloxane in China increased slightly from 2012 to 2021, with a compound growth rate of 2.4%. Among them, the average import price of primary form siloxane in China increased slightly from 2012 to 2018. In 2018, the average import price rose to us $6,687 / ton, and then gradually decreased to US $5,389 / ton in 2020, the lowest value in nearly 10 years.  

To sum up, with the rapid expansion and siloxane production technology upgrade and the siloxane in the low end products gradually achieve import substitution, but high-end products, especially silicone terminal high value-added products still need to rely on import, so you need to emphasis on r&d and new product development, so as to bring greater profit space.