Silicone is a general chemical material, known as "industrial vitamins", and is widely used in various fields. With the continuous promotion of the "carbon neutrality" goal and the increasingly stringent requirements for environmental protection, silicones are gradually replacing traditional rubber products such as acrylic glue, and the market substitution potential is very broad.
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Overview of the silicone industry
Silicone is an ideal alternative to petroleum-based synthetics and offers significant advantages over other traditional adhesive products in terms of environmental quality and performance.
Silicones are special compounds that contain silicon-carbon bonds (Si-C) in their structure and at least one organic group directly attached to the silicon atom.
Due to the inorganic part of the silicone structure, the material has excellent temperature and weather resistance, voltage resistance, etc., and the resistivity is better than that of other materials.
In addition, the intermolecular forces in the silicone backbone are relatively weak, so its film-forming ability is superior to that of other organic materials. This also guarantees the hydrophobic properties of the material and enhances the anti-stick properties, making it an application advantage in several areas.
Organosilicon industry chain combing
The upstream raw materials for silicones mainly include silicon metal and methylene chloride.
Silicon metal, also known as industrial silicon or crystalline silicon, is mainly produced by reducing silica in silica by electric furnaces, while methylene chloride is mainly derived from methanol, hydrogen chloride and glyphosate by-products.
Silicon metal reacts with monochloromethane to form a series of compounds, such as monomethyltrichlorosilane, dimethyldichlorosilane and trimethylmonochlorosilane.
Among the polymers of silicones, polysiloxanes are the most abundant, accounting for more than 90% of the total.
The downstream products of polysiloxane mainly include three categories of products: silicone rubber, silicone oil and silicone resin. Among them, silicone oil has a wide range of applications, mainly used in electronic and electrical industries, accessories and consumer goods industries, and can also play a role in daily chemical and additives industries;
Diagram of silicone industry chain:
The organic silicon industry chain includes two important links: organic silicon intermediates and organic silicon deep processing products.
According to the industry survey data, the global concentration of silicone intermediates is high. In addition, due to the wide range of applications of organosilicon intermediates, the number of enterprises engaged in deep processing is also large, and organosilicon intermediates manufacturers have stronger bargaining power in the industrial chain.
The production capacity of organic silicon monomers in mainland China is mainly concentrated in a few leading enterprises, including Hesheng Silicon, Xinghuo Silicone, Xin'an Co., Ltd., Dow Corning, Xingrui Silicon Materials and Dongyue Silicon Materials.
Distribution of silicone monomer production capacity in China:
Source: Xingxingcha
Competitive landscape and leading combing of silicone market
The market for the silicone industry in China is highly concentrated. For a long time, the total market share (CR4) of the top four in the industry has been maintained at more than 50%, and the competitive landscape of the industry is relatively stable.
Since 2019, the production capacity of Hesheng Silicon Industry has surpassed that of Blue Star, thus becoming the largest organic silicon manufacturer in China.
For new entrants, due to the high technical threshold of the silicone industry, they are facing a large technical barrier challenge.
In recent years, the new production capacity of the domestic silicone industry has been planned, and the leading enterprises will mainly expand production for their own use, and whether the new entrants can be put into production smoothly is still full of uncertainty. #有机硅##化工##新材料##财经##硅#
2023-2025 new capacity plan for the silicone industry:
Source: Baichuan Yingfu, China Merchants Securities
Continental is not only a major consumer of silicones in the world, but also a major exporter, and domestic demand is showing a steady growth trend. In the long run, as the mainland silicone industry gradually moves towards large-scale and high-end, the import substitution effect will become increasingly prominent, and the mainland's voice in the international market will continue to increase.
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