With the end of the Spring Festival holiday in the Year of the Snake, the silicone market has entered a new stage of development. Hydrogen - containing silicone oil, as an important product of silicone, has attracted much attention.

Review of the Pre - Festival Market

Looking back at January, the overall performance of the silicone market was weak, stable, and gradually declining. After mid - January, when mid - and downstream enterprises stocked up at low prices, market transactions gradually became less active. At that time, monomer plants mainly focused on delivering pre - sale orders, and some enterprises' orders were even scheduled until mid - February. For example, on January 27, a Shandong monomer plant quoted 12,600 yuan/ton for DMC and D4, while other monomer plants maintained stable quotations ranging from 12,800 to 13,500 yuan/ton.

Wide Applications of Hydrogen - Containing Silicone Oil

Hydrogen - containing silicone oil has a wide range of applications. Under the action of a metal catalyst, it can cross - link at an appropriate temperature and form a waterproof film on the surface of various substrates. It is often used as a waterproof agent, anti - sticking agent, or anti - corrosion agent for fabrics, paper, metals, leather, wood, etc. In the textile and clothing industries, it can also act as a softener, water - repellent agent, and hand - feeling improver, providing lubrication for sewing threads, facilitating the lubrication of chemical fiber spinnerets, and assisting in clothing pressing and lining. At the same time, it is used as a cross - linking agent in addition - cured liquid silicone rubber, forming Si - C bonds under the catalysis of Pt, and is also used as a bridging agent, anti - yellowing agent, and coupling agent in solid silicone rubber.

Market Trend Analysis

From the supply side, the new monomer production capacity in 2025 has slowed down significantly, and the industry supply pattern has improved marginally. However, the approximately 1.4 million tons of new production capacity added in 2024 has not been fully released. Currently, the domestic silicone production capacity is approximately 6.85 million tons, and the annual operating rate of monomer devices is around 70%. The trend of oversupply is still difficult to reverse in 2025. Fortunately, "anti - involution" has become the consensus of upstream enterprises, and monomer enterprises are accelerating the integration of the industrial chain. This will prompt mid - and downstream enterprises to actively seek new product development directions, further expand the terminal application scope of silicone, and hydrogen - containing silicone oil is also expected to 迎来 more application scenarios. On the demand side, in 2025, real estate policies will continue to be relaxed, and the demand for construction sealants is expected to recover moderately. However, due to the dominance of the existing housing market, the growth rate is unlikely to exceed 3%. The photovoltaic industry is developing rapidly. As of the end of 2024, the total installed capacity of photovoltaic power in China reached 886.66 million kilowatts, and the newly installed capacity in 2024 reached 277.17 million kilowatts, reaching a new historical high. This provides opportunities for the application of hydrogen - containing silicone oil in the photovoltaic - related fields. In addition, with the iteration of AI large models, the humanoid robot industry is developing rapidly. 2025 may become the first year of commercial mass production of humanoid robots, and the application potential of hydrogen - containing silicone oil in robot - related materials is also worthy of attention. However, on February 1, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese products exported to the United States, which poses new challenges to the export of silicone enterprises, and the export of hydrogen - containing silicone oil may also be affected. However, domestic silicone products, with the advantages of improved raw material cost - effectiveness and the gradual withdrawal of overseas old - fashioned production capacity, have been continuously increasing their global market share. It is expected that the impact on the hydrogen - containing silicone oil market will be controllable in the short term. In the follow - up, it is necessary to continuously pay attention to the international trade data and market changes of silicone, so as to adjust strategies in a timely manner and seize the development opportunities of the hydrogen - containing silicone oil market.