Silicone Price Trend and Forecast

Silicone Regional Price Overview

Get the latest insights on price movement and trend analysis of Silicone in different regions across the world (Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa).

Silicone Price Trend for the First Half of 2024

Asia

In Asia, particularly in China, silicone prices experienced an opposing trend over the two quarters. In the first quarter, prices were on the rise, driven by a revival in downstream demand, particularly as China's manufacturing sector showed signs of recovery. This positive demand environment, coupled with an increase in crude oil prices, contributed to an overall uptick in silicone prices.
 

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The market saw a significant upward movement during this period. However, as the second quarter began, the market conditions shifted. The Chinese market began to feel the impact of rising inventory levels, which, combined with the stabilization of crude oil prices, reduced some of the upward pressure on costs. Consequently, silicone prices in China saw a decline during the second quarter, with the overall market sentiment turning more subdued.

Europe

In Europe, the silicone market experienced fluctuations during the first half of 2024, heavily influenced by external factors. The first quarter saw a sharp increase in prices, largely due to disruptions in freight services and geopolitical tensions that affected trade routes, particularly through the Suez Canal, a crucial maritime link between Asia and Europe. These challenges contributed to a sustained upward price trajectory throughout the first quarter. However, by the second quarter, the market began to stabilize as crude oil and energy prices leveled off, leading to a normalization of silicone prices. The overall sentiment in Europe remained mixed during this period, reflecting the interplay between these varying influences.

North America

In North America, the silicone market followed a somewhat similar pattern to its counterparts in Asia and Europe. The first quarter was marked by a slight positive trend, supported by global market conditions that favored higher silicone prices. However, the second quarter saw more stability, with prices remaining relatively steady. This stability was partly due to the strong US dollar, which was bolstered by delayed interest rate cuts in the US market. Additionally, the anticipation of the upcoming presidential election in the United States contributed to a cautious economic environment, preventing any major disruptions in the market. Overall, the silicone market in North America remained buoyant but stable during the second quarter.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price of Silicone is estimated to be widely influenced by the rising uncertainties in the demand and wait-and-see approach of the commodity in the forthcoming quarters.
 

Silicone Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

Asia

The end-user industries projected a limited interest in the silicone sector, which caused month-on-month variations in its price trend during the third and fourth quarters of 2023. The oscillations were very severe in the third quarter when the consumption of the automotive sector remained only moderate while the production output outgrew the demand by several folds.

Additionally, the slump in raw material prices due to limited procurement lowered the overall cost of production and prices of silicone. However, during the last month of the third quarter and the majority of the next quarter, the market adopted a relatively stable outlook. This was based on the contraction in production activities and robust demand from the automotive industries after the softening of semiconductor supply knots.

Europe

After a period of stagnancy in the initial months of the third quarter, the price trend of silicone registered a dramatic decline in the last month. The drop in the prices was attributed to being based on a significant shrinkage in the demand from the downstream industries and the cost of production.

The market thus took a long period of recovery before showing any positive sentiments in the fourth quarter. This is evident from the fact that the cost of raw materials and demand from the end user industries started to incline since the advent of Q4’23 but the influence of these sectors was only seen during the last month of the year.

North America

In North America, the downstream rubber industries experienced an avalanche, which was further translated into the price trend of silicone during Q3 of 2023. There was also a striking imbalance between the demand and supply of the commodity which made the trading activities much dire. Additionally, the feedstock industries also failed to exert any support to the sector in the aforementioned period, resulting in the downfall of the silicone price trend. However, soon, the dynamics of the overall market shifted in favor of the rising momentum. The production output in Q4 also declined, which eased the stockpiles, and with growing demand, the prices of silicone also had room for growth.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trend of Silicone is estimated to depict the trends followed by its feedstock and downstream industries in the upcoming quarters.
 

Silicone Price Trend for the First Half of 2023

Asia

Asian Silicone market witnessed mixed price trend during the first half of 2023. The market had a good start in January with high demands and rising prices, given the Chinese holiday season. But the demands dipped sharply as soon as the holiday season was over, pushing the prices down. But a steady rebound was witnessed in the second quarter as the supply-demand dynamics stabilized and the Silicone market showed optimal movement.

Europe

The European Silicone market had a slow start at the beginning of 2023. Silicone prices wavered low at the beginning of the first quarter primarily because of the dull trade activities in European markets. But as the freight and supply chain issues were resolved and Europe started experiencing trade normalization, prices started rising, especially because of the semiconductor sector. Hence, the price trend for Silicone rose in Europe for the rest of the concerned period.

North America

In the North American market, suppliers continuously ordered Silicones without much concern over market demand. As there were rising demands from downstream industries, prices started high in January 2023. But as the inventory levels rose astoundingly because of consistent procurement, prices saw a dip at the end of the first quarter. However, the demands still remained high, and the prices soon came back to the inclining trajectory in the second quarter and kept rising for the rest of the said period.

Analyst insight

According to Procurement Resource, Silicone prices are expected to continue rising market trend in the upcoming months as the demand projections look good for the product.
 

Silicone Price Trend for the Second Half of 2022

Asia Pacific

The third quarter saw a slight increase in the price trend for silicone given the steady rise in the demand from end users like the automobile and allied industries and also due to the increase in prices of its primary feedstock. Due to the disruption of supply chain dynamics brought on by the rise of COVID cases and the resulting increase in trade restrictions, the Chinese market likewise experienced limited stock availability. The automotive, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries all experienced sluggish demand in the fourth quarter, which resulted in lower commodity prices.

Europe

As the demand for this commodity fell, prices on the European market fell. The downturn was caused by the high cost of local manufacturing, raw materials, and operation. The changes in the prices of commodities were evident of the recession's reverberations throughout the area.

The supply chain was affected by port overcrowding, vessel bunching, and a labour strike, which added to the negative growth of prices.  The dynamics of the supply chain did, however, slightly improve in the fourth quarter, but the price decrease was still driven by the weak demand from the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and automotive sectors.

North America

In contrast to the other two regions, the North American region had the reverse tendency. As output rose in the local area in the third quarter, prices soared. Despite rising inflation rates, the end-user markets maintained a steady demand for the item. However, the transportation issues, port congestion, and labour shortage in the area disturbed the supply dynamics.  As a result, silicone price growth decreased in the fourth quarter.

Analyst Insight

The price trend of Silicone are likely to remain volatile during the coming month given the current market dynamics. Owing to the unfolding financial crisis, the buyers are cautious of their buying activities which negatively impacts the demand and thus, the overall dynamics.
 

Silicone Price Trend For the First Half of 2022

Asia

The price trend for silicone registered an upward trend throughout the Asian market during the said period. The price of silicone depends on the buoyant downstream demand from the pharmaceutical, electrical, and packaging industries. During the first quarter, the price of feedstock dimethylcyclosiloxane (DMC) kept strong averaging 37000-39500 RMB/MT.

However, the prices of DMC started declining during the second quarter owing to the logistic and transportation issues. The reduced market sentiments and inflated operating costs further impacted the prices. Despite the reduced quotations for feedstock DMC, the price trend for silicone remained strong throughout the Chinese market owing to robust demand.

Europe

The continuing Russia-Ukraine war has triggered an acute energy crisis in the European region causing high-cost inflation. The high operating costs, reduced market inventories and supply-side constraints have impacted the prices of DMC. The robust demand from the electric vehicles sector has kept the prices of silicone intact across the European region. The prices of silicone recorded an average rise of 5-7% during the said period.

North America

The US domestic market mirrored the global price trend for silicone. The price of silicone kept increasing owing to the increased input costs. The high-power costs, labour shortages, expensive logistics and booming downstream demand from the pharmaceutical and electric industry kept the silicone prices anchored throughout the domestic market. The silicon prices rose by 5-6% averaging 4500 USD/MT.

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