# Silicon

Silicon, smelted from quartz, alloys steel and aluminium, makes silicones, and in ultra-pure form underpins solar panels and chips.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/

Steel & alloying · No. 20

- EU strategic
- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
 Steel & alloying · Foundation · Matter

Chip-grade silicon starts as ordinary quartz rock and ends up with just one stray atom per ten billion.

Chart: Illustration: Silicon

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Silicon is never mined as metal. Producers quarry pure quartzite and strip out the oxygen with carbon in huge electric arc furnaces, using a great deal of electricity.

##### Three things to know

1. Silica makes up about two-thirds of the Earth's upper crust by mass, so geology is never the problem.
2. China made about 4.0 of the world's 4.6 million tons of silicon metal in 2025.
3. In April 2025 Chinese silicon metal prices sank to their lowest since November 2016.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Quartzite**High-purity silica rock, SiO2
2. 2 **Arc furnace**Reduced with coal, coke or wood
3. 3 **Metallurgical silicon**98-99% pure, or ferrosilicon
4. 4 **Polysilicon**Siemens process purifies it further
5. 5 **Wafers**Ingots sliced for solar cells, chips
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[Criticality and geopoliticsCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/criticality-and-geopolitics/)[Heavy inorganics: salt, sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorusChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/heavy-inorganic-chemicals/)[Making electricity: thermal, nuclear, hydro, wind and solarEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/making-electricity/)[Using energy: food, materials, mobility and buildingsEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/using-energy/)[Energy transitions and climateEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/energy-transitions-climate/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/links/index.md)