Silicon prices slid further amid thin trading activity

SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Prices dipped further across several specifications of silicon products on Monday July 2 as few transactions were heard at the start of the week.

Traders tended to take a watch-and-wait stance and showed little restocking willingness, SMM learned. 

The #553 non-oxygen silicon metal mostly traded at 11,500-11,700 yuan/mt on Monday at Huangpu port in Guangzhou, down 50 yuan/mt from last Friday, and down 1,000 yuan/mt from May 25, when the market began to fall. 

While declining silicon prices cooled down producers' enthusiasm in Yunnan province, four silicon plants in Huaihua city of Hunan province suspended production as environmental inspection team stationed in on July 2. This will affect a total of 2,600 mt monthly production at these plants, SMM estimated. 

The inspection team, from Hunan provincial government, is scheduled to stay till July 11, looking to resolve air pollution and noise issues caused by local industrial plants, SMM learned. 

It is unclear when the suspension will be lifted.