The demand in emerging fields has exploded, and the silica industry has embarked on a new journey of high-end development

1.The demand structure is reshaping, and emerging fields are becoming growth engines
The domestic market size of silica is expected to exceed 34 billion yuan in 2025, and the demand structure will present a distinct pattern of "steady growth in traditional fields and explosive growth in emerging fields". The traditional rubber sector remains the main demand base, accounting for 61%. However, the demand for highly dispersed silica in green tires has become a core growth point, with the addition ratio per tire rising from 18% in 2018 to 25% in 2025. Emerging fields have performed particularly outstandingly, with their overall demand share surging from 12% in 2020 to 35%, becoming the primary engine of industry growth.

2. The application scenarios are continuously expanding through multi-field collaboration
The application scenarios of silica are extending from traditional fields to multiple dimensions such as high-end manufacturing. In the coatings sector, the market share of environmentally friendly water-based coatings has exceeded half, driving a sharp increase in the demand for special hydrophobic silica. The annual demand for silica used in photovoltaic backsheet coatings has reached 45,000 tons, representing a year-on-year growth of 40.6%. The electronic field has benefited from the construction of 5G base stations and the development of the semiconductor industry. The application growth rate of fumed silica in electronic packaging materials has reached 22.4%, and the product price premium rate is 3.2 times that of conventional products. In the new energy sector, the demand for silica used in battery separators for power batteries and packaging materials for photovoltaic modules has grown by more than 20%.

3. Technological innovation breakthroughs have significantly enhanced the level of domestic production
The technological innovation achievements in the industry have been remarkable, continuously narrowing the gap between product performance and the international advanced level. The sedimentation process, through intelligent transformation and resource utilization of waste, has achieved an 18% reduction in energy consumption. The specific surface area of some products exceeds 380m²/g, and the export unit price is 52% higher than that of traditional products. The localization process of gas-phase method technology has accelerated, with the localization rate rising from 42% in 2020 to 65% in 2025. Multiple breakthroughs have been made in key technologies such as surface hydroxyl control and particle size homogenization, breaking the international technological monopoly.

4. The competitiveness of regional cluster industries has continued to increase
The regional layout of the domestic silica industry shows the characteristics of "strengthening in the east and advancing in the west, and clustering and agglomeration". The East China region, with its complete industrial chain advantage, accounts for 65% of the national production capacity. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places, the single-line production capacity of newly built gas-phase method projects has been increased to 30,000 tons. The pace of industrial transfer in the central and western regions is accelerating. By 2025, Shanxi, Xinjiang and other places will add 240,000 tons of new production capacity. New projects in the southwest region will fill the gap of high-end products in the region. The five key industrial clusters cultivated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are accelerating their formation. It is expected that by 2030, the concentration of enterprises within the clusters will increase to over 65%, and a regional coordinated development pattern will gradually take shape.