Silicon

Silicon is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a metallic lustre and is the second most abundant element on earth, primarily obtained from quartz. It is crucial for a wide range of industries, including electronics, solar energy, and steelmaking. The leading producers of silicon are China, Russia, and the United States. Silicon is mainly used in semiconductor manufacturing, alloys, and solar panels.

Sub-Category	Abbreviation	Core Content Range	Size Range
Calcium Silicon	CaSi	Si 0-65%	0-80 mm
Calcium Silicon Manganese	CaSiMn	Si 50-60%	2-10 mm
Ferro Silicon Chrome	FeSiCr	Various	n/a
Ferrosilicon	FeSi	Si 35-100%	0-350 mm
Ferrosilicon Briquettes	FeSi briq	Si 45-80%	20-110 mm
Ferrosilicon Inoculant	Inoculant	Si 45-80%	0-24.5 mm
Ferrosilicon Low Aluminium	FeSi Low Al	Si 73-100%	2-100 mm
Ferrosilicon Magnesium	FeSiMg	Si 40-60%	0-30 mm
Ferrosilicon Nitride	FeSi3N4	Various	n/a
Ferrosilicon Zirconium	FeSiZr	Si 15-55%	2-100 mm
Fused Silica		SiO2 99.4-100%	0.2-0.5 mm
Graphite (SiO2/Al2O3/Fe2O3)	Graphite	SiO2 0-52%	0-0.5 mm
Iron-Silicon Chromium	FeSiCr	Various	n/a
Silica Fume		SiO2 93-100%	n/a
Silica Sand		Various	n/a
Silicon Carbide	SiC grains	SiC 0-100%	0-150 mm
Silicon Carbide (in Si)	SiC grains (Si)	Si 60-70%	1-20 mm
Silicon Carbide Briquettes	SiC briq	Various	n/a
Silicon Carbide Cupola Briquettes	SiC briq	Various	n/a
Silicon Carbide Powder	SiC	Various	n/a
Silicon Metal	Si metal	Si 46-100%	0-325 mm
Silicon Powder	Si Powder	Various	n/a

Please note that the above listed sub-categories including its core content and size ranges are just a snapshot of Metalshub’s currently traded raw materials. We are adding new sub-categories on a monthly basis and would be happy to assess your specific requirements to this category.

Metalshub provides producers and consumers of silicon in the metals industry with a software solution to improve the way they buy or sell it. Our software connects over 2,000 companies in a joint trading network. This allows sellers to discover new buyers of silicon and buyers to discover new suppliers of silicon.

For buyers, Metalshub’s Procurement Solution allows steel mills, foundries, and other consumers to digitalise their procurement process in order to increase sourcing efficiency, ensure compliant buying, and take data-driven decisions. For sellers, Metalshub’s Sales Solution allows miners, producers, traders, and other sellers to digitalise their sales process, manage inventory, and optimise their sales book.

Several institutions provide pricing data for silicon:

1. Fastmarkets: Fastmarkets offers journalistic price assessments for various grades of silicon, including silicon metal and ferrosilicon (Fastmarkets).
2. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM): SMM provides journalistic updates on silicon prices in China, detailing different grades and providing historical and current data on the Chinese silicon market​ (Shanghai Metals Market).
3. Metis: For ferrosilicon robust transaction-based price data is made available by Metis. The prices are adjusted considering FCA warehouse in a major European sea port and prepayment (Metis).

Beyond these three examples, other providers may also provide prices.

The leading producers of silicon are:

• China – ~70% of global silicon production
• Russia – ~10% of global silicon production
• United States – ~5% of global silicon production
• Brazil – ~5%, a key player in the ferrosilicon market.
• Norway – ~5%, specialising in silicon for alloy production.

Some of the key producers of silicon include:

• Ferroglobe (Spain) – ~<15% of global production
• Elkem (Norway) – ~10% of global production
• Dow Silicones (USA) – ~<10% of global production
• Globe Specialty Metals (USA) – ~5% of global production

Silicon is produced from quartz through a smelting process, typically in electric arc furnaces. Quartz is combined with carbon in the furnace, where it is heated to high temperatures to reduce the silicon dioxide into silicon metal. The resulting silicon is then refined to meet specific industry requirements, such as metallurgical-grade silicon or high-purity silicon for electronics.

Silicon is primarily used in the electronics industry (~40%), where it is essential for semiconductor manufacturing and integrated circuits. It is also used in the production of alloys (~30%), such as ferrosilicon for steelmaking, and in solar energy (~20%) for photovoltaic cells in solar panels.