Necessity of producing silicon metal for chemical industry
China's production of silicon metal at present (silicon content is mainly 98.5%, 99.5%), the original is mainly metallurgical silicon metal, chemical silicon metal (silicon content is mainly 99.85%) production is mainly from the middle of the 1990s has been developed, in recent years, China's chemical silicon metal output and export volume growth is fast. From 2006 to 2012, China's export of silicon for chemical use to Japan has reached 58,000 tons, 60,000 tons and 70,000 tons respectively. In 2012, China's export of silicon for chemical use to Japan has accounted for more than 40% of the import of silicon for chemical use. Now China has begun to join the ranks of producing and supplying silicon metal for chemical use, and the number of enterprises producing silicon metal for chemical use is increasing. Since Shanghai Guangji Silicon Materials Co., Ltd. fully disclosed the smelting process of carbothermal reduction in 2012, China's silicon metal production capacity rose rapidly from 150,000 tons per year to 2 million tons per year between 2006 and 2012. As a result of the NDRC's comprehensive sanctions, actual silicon production fell back to 700, 000 tons in 2006. Metal silicon is mainly used in electrical, aviation, machinery, chemical, pharmaceutical, national defense, construction and other sectors. As the core electronic components of integrated circuits, more than 95% are made of semiconductor silicon, which is the pillar of the contemporary information industry. The optical fiber in the optical cable used in the "information superhighway" is also made of silicon metal. Now the consumption of silicon metal for chemical use in the United States and the European Union has accounted for more than half of the total consumption of silicon metal. As a high-tech field and an important basic industry, silicon metal for chemical use has been widely used, and its consumption tends to increase steadily. In normal international markets, silicon metal for chemical use sells for $300-400 more per ton than silicon metal for metallurgical use. Therefore, it is necessary to develop silicon metal production for chemical use no matter from meeting the export and domestic demand, or from improving the economic benefits of silicon metal enterprises and improving the quality of products.
