Industrial silicon (Silicon metal), also known as metallic silicon and crystalline silicon, is obtained by reducing silica with a carbonaceous reducing agent in a submerged arc furnace. Industrial silicon is the most important raw material for the production of organic silicon and polysilicon, and is also an important raw material for casting aluminum alloys and deformed aluminum alloys. According to the national standard for industrial silicon (GBT 2881-2014), industrial silicon is divided into Si1101, Si2202, Si3303 and other specifications based on the difference in the content of three main impurities (iron, aluminum, and calcium). Industrial silicon grades are represented by the silicon element symbol and 4 digits. The 4 digits represent the maximum content requirements of the main impurity elements iron, aluminum, and calcium in the product, respectively. The iron content and aluminum content are taken as one digit after the decimal point, and the calcium content is taken as two digits after the decimal point. The upstream of my country's industrial silicon industry chain mainly includes silica, reducing agents (charcoal, coal, etc.), graphite electrodes, methanol, hydrogen chloride, electricity, etc.; the midstream is industrial silicon production and manufacturing, and key enterprises mainly include Hesheng Silicon Industry, Oriental Hope, Xinxing Group, Dongyue Group, and Xin'an Shares; the downstream is mainly silicon aluminum alloy, silicone, polysilicon, monocrystalline silicon, etc. Industrial silicon has a wide range of downstream applications, including defense and military industry, information industry, new energy and other fields. The different demands for industrial silicon products in these fields have prompted the industrial silicon industry to continuously develop new products and improve product quality to meet the diversified needs of downstream industries. For example, due to its unique properties, silicone is widely used in electronics, electrical, construction, transportation, chemical industry and other fields, which has prompted the industrial silicon industry to continuously innovate and improve the production of silicone products. Silica is a general term for quartzite, vein quartz and quartz sandstone. It is mainly used for acid refractory bricks in the metallurgical industry and is also the main raw material for the production of industrial silicon. my country's silica resources are mainly distributed in quartzite, accounting for 53.4%; followed by natural quartz sand, accounting for 31.5%, and quartz sandstone accounting for 14.2%. The overall output of my country's quartz sand industry has shown an upward trend, from 77.86 million tons in 2017 to 91.23 million tons in 2021. In 2022, China's quartz sand output reached 94.07 million tons. Factors such as the silicon dioxide content, impurity content and particle size in quartz sand will affect the quality of industrial silicon. High-purity quartz sand can produce higher-quality industrial silicon to meet higher-end application needs. At the same time, if there are too many impurities in quartz sand, unnecessary impurities will be introduced into the production process of industrial silicon, reducing the quality of industrial silicon.

According to publicly released information, the global industrial silicon production capacity in 2023 will be about 8.535 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%. Although the total production capacity has continued to grow, the year-on-year growth rate has declined. China, Brazil, the United States, Norway, France, Russia and Germany are the world's major industrial silicon production bases. Among them, China's industrial silicon production capacity has an absolute advantage. In 2023, China's industrial silicon production capacity accounted for 82.1% of the global total production capacity, and its share has further increased. In recent years, with the rapid development of the solar photovoltaic industry, the demand for polysilicon has increased significantly, which in turn has promoted the demand for industrial silicon and further promoted the expansion of industrial silicon production capacity. In 2023, China's industrial silicon production capacity reached 7.005 million tons and the effective production capacity reached 6.869 million tons. The production capacity has maintained growth for three consecutive years. This is mainly due to the pull of downstream demand and the scheduled commissioning of new production capacity.

My country's industrial silicon output has always maintained a leading position in the world, and has shown a steady growth trend in recent years. In recent years, my country's industrial silicon output has increased year by year. In 2019, my country's industrial silicon output was 2.258 million tons. By 2023, my country's industrial silicon output will reach 3.755 million tons. my country's industrial silicon production capacity continues to grow, mainly due to the commissioning of new production capacity and the upgrading and transformation of existing production capacity. In recent years, with the rapid development of new energy industries such as photovoltaics, the demand for industrial silicon has continued to increase, which has promoted the expansion of industrial silicon production capacity. The further expansion of my country's industrial silicon production capacity has promoted the growth of production. In the next few years, my country's industrial silicon output is expected to continue to grow. With the recovery of the global economy and the rapid development of the new energy industry, the demand for industrial silicon will continue to increase.