Operating rates at Chinese silicon metal plants rose over 10% on the year in November

SHANGHAI, Dec 16 (SMM) – Operating rates across Chinese silicon metal producers fell 0.1 percentage points on the month and up 10.1 percentage points on the year to 50.2%, showed an SMM survey.

China produced 231,000 mt of silicon metal in November, and 1.96 million mt from January to November, 104,000 mt or 5% lower than a year earlier. 

Some areas in Yunnan and Sichuan have entered the dry seasons, and the power supply has been reduced, leading to the slight decline in silicon plants on the month. However, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Hunan, Chongqing, Shaanxi and other regions have increased their supply due to high profits and the overall supply has not dropped significantly.

Operating rates at Yunnan silicon plants decreased 15.5 percentage points in November to 57.8%. Silicon furnaces in Dehong and Lincang successively reduced production due to power shortage, while the operation rates in Baoshan and Nujiang remained basically unchanged. Operating rates of silicon enterprises in Yunnan increased 16.9 percentage points year on year. Operating rate at Sichuan silicon plant stood at 40.8% in November, down 16.3 percentage points from the previous month and up 13.7 percentage points from the previous year. Liangshan, the main oxygen-free silicon producing area, saw the most obvious reduction in production, while Leshan, Ya 'an, Aba and other producing areas saw only a slight decline from the previous month due to relatively abundant power supply.

A large-scale factory in Xinjiang has been affected by silica supply before, and the rapid increase of silicon prices in October-November is enough to cover the cost of purchasing silica at high prices. Therefore, the enterprise actively restocked raw materials in the market to increase the operating load. The operating load of other small and medium-sized silicon plants in Xinjiang has also increased. Output of silicon in Xinjiang increased nearly 10,000 mt in November and will increase another 10,000 mt in December.

Some production capacity in Guangxi, Hunan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other production areas is under maintenance, which is expected to be put into production one after another from December to January, with the output released mostly in January.

According to the actual reduction and shutdown of silicon plants in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and the new start-up of silicon plants in other producing areas, SMM expects that operating rates across silicon metal producers will continue to be around 50% in December, which is basically flat from the previous month. Annual output of silicon metal will stand at about 2.18 million mt in 2020, down 50,000 mt or 2% from last year.