Abstract:In recent years, the mainland quartz products industry has made significant breakthroughs at the technical level, and the domestic photovoltaic installed capacity has continued to grow, which has promoted the rapid development of the national quartz crucible industry. In particular, the semiconductor quartz crucible industry has a very rapid growth in market size. According to statistics, in 2019, the market size of semiconductor quartz crucibles in mainland China was about 120 million yuan, and by 2023, the market size of semiconductor quartz crucibles in China has climbed to 290 million yuan.
1. Definitions and Classification
Quartz crucible is a subdivision product in quartz glass products, made of high-purity quartz sand, shaped by mold, and made by arc method at high temperature, with the advantages of high purity, strong temperature resistance, large size and high precision, good heat preservation, energy saving, stable quality, etc., and is a key disposable consumable used to hold molten silicon liquid in the process of monocrystalline silicon rod drawing. According to the shape classification, quartz crucible can be divided into cylindrical quartz crucible, flat bottom quartz crucible and round bottom quartz crucible; according to the capacity classification, quartz crucible can be divided into small quartz crucible, medium quartz crucible and large quartz crucible; according to the use classification, quartz crucible can be divided into high temperature quartz crucible, low temperature quartz crucible and high pressure quartz crucible; according to special requirements, quartz crucible can be divided into pure quartz crucible, explosion-proof quartz crucible and precision quartz crucible.
Second, industry policies
1. Competent authorities and regulatory system
The competent authority of the quartz crucible product industry is the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is mainly responsible for the supervision and management of the industrial industry and the information industry, and its responsibilities include: formulating and organizing the implementation of industrial and communication industry development strategies, industry plans, plans and industrial policies, monitoring the operation situation of the industry, proposing the scale and direction of investment in fixed assets in the industry, formulating and organizing the implementation of policies and plans for the promotion of energy conservation and comprehensive utilization of resources and cleaner production in the industry, formulating and organizing the implementation of plans, policies and standards for the high-tech industry involving new materials and information industry, and promoting the development of emerging industries.
The main task of the association is to assist government departments in industry management, to do a good job in information consulting services, to assist government departments in quality management and supervision of the industry, and to carry out industry statistics, standardization, industry surveys and other work entrusted by the National Development and Reform Commission. In addition, the standardization organization of the industry mainly includes the National Technical Committee for the Standardization of Industrial Glass and Special Glass and the National Glass Fiber Standardization Committee, which are mainly responsible for the standardization of comprehensive products in the professional field of quartz glass and quartz fiber, and the organization and preparation of industry technical standards.
2. Industry-related policies
In order to promote the development of the quartz crucible industry in mainland China and promote the overall optimization and upgrading of the structure of the domestic semiconductor industry, the mainland government has issued a series of laws and regulations, industry policies and measures, clarified the terms and definitions of quartz crucibles, and from the perspective of industry practitioners, production equipment, main raw and auxiliary materials, production technology, operating environment, At the same time, the policy proposes to accelerate the development and mass production of quartz crucible products that meet the market demand, so as to further strengthen the basic research and system construction of the national manufacturing industry, and provide good policy support for the development of the quartz crucible industry in the mainland.
Third, the development process
The development of the quartz crucible industry in mainland China can be divided into several historical periods: from 1978 to 1988, the arc method quartz crucible, high-purity coated crucible and laser quartz glass and other quartz products have been developed and achieved large-scale production; from 1989 to 2000, this stage is mainly nationalized on the basis of the introduction of foreign advanced technology absorption and digestion; after 2000, with the progress of technology, the crucible size has been developed from 12 inches to 32 inches. In recent years, the mainstream of crystal pulling production in mainland China is 28-inch crucibles, and new projects generally use 28-inch to 32-inch crucibles, and the quartz crucibles developed by a few companies have reached 40 inches.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Brand barriers
Quartz crucible is mainly used in semiconductors, photovoltaic and other fields, monocrystalline silicon production enterprises on the one hand have higher requirements for the quality and stability of quartz crucibles and related supporting products, enterprises often after the purchase intention is reached, testing standards are communicated consistently, still need to pass multiple procedures such as sample testing, and require related product test reports, certification certificates, etc., to prove the stability of their products, reliability and manufacturers' after-sales service capabilities, in order to become qualified suppliers. Monocrystalline silicon manufacturers tend to choose suppliers with good reputation in the industry and maintain long-term and stable cooperative relations with them. As a result, the industry has formed a high market barrier for new entrants.
2. Technical barriers
Due to the high precision of products and the rapid development of technology, the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries have increasingly strict requirements for the purity and accuracy of quartz crucibles. The quartz products industry in mainland China started late, and only a few large-scale enterprises have reached the advanced level in quartz crucible technology. In terms of supply quality, on the one hand, new entrants often need to go through long-term repeated testing and continuous product upgrades to develop quartz crucibles that meet the actual needs of downstream customers, and product research and development needs to consume large costs. On the other hand, based on the requirements of high purity of monocrystalline silicon wafers and the high cost of single crystal pulling, quartz crucibles require stable quality in actual use, and if impurities and bubbles are not effectively controlled during the production process, it is easy to cause crystal pulling failure and scrapping of feeding. In terms of technological change, with the continuous iteration of downstream industry technology, quartz crucible manufacturing enterprises need to keep pace with the times, develop and produce products that meet the needs of downstream fields in a timely manner, and meet the requirements of downstream customers to reduce costs and increase efficiency, in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Comprehensive analysis, there are high technical barriers in the quartz crucible industry.
3. Scale barriers
The wafer manufacturing industry has a high degree of concentration, a large production scale, and a large amount of important functional consumables such as quartz crucibles. Smaller enterprises in the industry are constrained by economies of scale, and it is difficult to meet the daily production scale needs of large wafer manufacturers. On the other hand, downstream mono-Si wafer manufacturers will continue to expand production based on the demand to accelerate the reduction of the LCOE of mono-Si wafers, and the synergy requirements of upstream and downstream also objectively require enterprises in the industry to have considerable scale advantages and a certain degree of continuous scale capabilities. As a result, the industry has extremely high requirements for the size of the enterprise.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
The upstream of the quartz crucible industry mainly includes high-purity quartz sand, crucible equipment manufacturing, graphite electrode, quartz plate and other industries, among which high-purity quartz sand is the key raw material of quartz crucible, and its quality and supply stability have an important impact on the quality and output of quartz crucible. Due to the scarcity of high-purity quartz sand resources and the influence of market supply and demand, its price may fluctuate, which will affect the production cost and market price of quartz crucible. The midstream of the industry is a manufacturer of quartz crucibles. The downstream of the industry is mainly the monocrystalline silicon material manufacturing industry, including photovoltaic and semiconductor fields. In recent years, with the rapid development of the photovoltaic and semiconductor industries, the demand for quartz crucibles is also increasing.
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