Silicon: Characteristics
From 98% metal to ten-nines purity for chips
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 4,600 kt silicon metal and 5,000 kt Si in ferrosilicon (2025e) | Silicon metal output fell from 5,500 kt in 2024 as China cut from 4,800 kt to 4,000 kt; ferrosilicon rose from 4,600 kt. China made almost 80% of all silicon materials in 2025. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | US producer stocks withheld; large polysilicon stocks in China (2025) | USGS cites the availability of polysilicon stocks as one reason silicon metal prices fell about 21% in 2025, to the lowest since 2016 in April. Guangzhou Futures Exchange warehouse stocks exist but are not in the sources used. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | not published; chronic overcapacity in China | Chinese silicon metal and polysilicon capacity far exceeds demand after the solar build-out, and plants in Yunnan and Sichuan cut output in the dry season when hydropower is short (indicative). No official utilisation rate was found. | USGS MCS 2026; content_v2; seasonal curtailment indicative |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China about 78%, top-3 about 87% (China, Russia, Brazil), HHI about 6,150 (2025, Si content of FeSi plus Si metal, derived) | In silicon metal alone China made 87% (4,000 of 4,600 kt). Ferroglobe shipped 147,112 t of silicon metal in 2025; Hoshine, Elkem, Wacker and Shin-Etsu lead further down the chain. | USGS MCS 2026 (HHI derived); Ferroglobe via content_v2 |
| Supply elasticity | high: quartz is abundant and furnaces can restart within months | Supply responds to power prices and Chinese policy more than geology. New silicon metal furnaces take about 1-2 years and polysilicon plants 1-2 years in China (indicative). | USGS MCS 2026; lead times indicative |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | capacity growth has slowed after oversupply; Western projects few | Overcapacity, weak aluminium and silicone demand, and US duties on ferrosilicon from Brazil, Kazakhstan and Malaysia (2025) shape investment. Named new projects and CapEx were not found in the sources used. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | silicon metal exports $3.5 billion and ferrosilicon $2.4 billion (2024); China 38.3% and 21.0% of value | Norway (14.0%) and Brazil (13.4%) are the other big silicon metal exporters; Germany (16.6%), the US (13.4%) and Japan (11.0%) lead imports. Most Chinese silicon metal is used at home to make polysilicon in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and Sichuan; US bans on Xinjiang-linked goods affect trade. | UN Comtrade 2024 (HS 280469, 720221); Conway 2023 |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Silicon is sold in grades defined by purity, from ferrosilicon for steel to 98-99% metallurgical silicon for aluminium alloys and silicones, up to polysilicon with nine or more nines for solar cells and chips. Commercial value depends on the levels of iron, aluminium and calcium, and, for polysilicon, on parts-per-billion impurities and crystal quality.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silicon metal grade | 98.5-99.5% Si; grades named by Fe-Al-Ca content, e.g. 553 (Fe at most 0.5%, Al 0.5%, Ca 0.3%), 441, 3303 | Aluminium alloy makers accept 553; chemical (silicone) and polysilicon makers pay more for low-Fe, low-Ca grades such as 3303 and 2202 | GB/T 2881 (China) grading; Conway 2023 (98-99%) |
| Ferrosilicon grade | FeSi75 (about 72-80% Si) and FeSi45 | Used to deoxidise steel and make electrical steel; Al and C limits set price | ASTM A100; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Polysilicon purity | solar grade up to 8-9 nines (99.999999-99.9999999%); electronic grade about 11 nines (indicative) | Each extra nine raises cell efficiency or chip yield and price; boron and phosphorus must be in parts per billion | Conway 2023; electronic grade indicative |
| Semiconductor band gap | 1.12 eV at room temperature | Ideal for solar cells and transistors, which is why silicon has no mass substitute (gallium arsenide and germanium are niche) | CRC Handbook; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Melting point and density | 1,414 C; 2.33 g/cm3 | Adding silicon to aluminium lowers melting point and improves castability for engine blocks and wheels (A356 has about 7% Si) | CRC Handbook; ASTM B26 (A356) |
| Lump size | typically 10-100 mm for silicon metal (indicative) | Silicone and trichlorosilane plants grind to set particle sizes; fines are discounted | industry practice (indicative) |