China's electrodes catch up with international standards

　　In recent years, with social progress and technological development, especially with the convening of the Copenhagen and Cancun climate conferences, the concepts of green energy and sustainable development have become increasingly popular. As a strategic emerging industry, the development of new materials and new energy will become a new growth point for the future economy, which will inevitably lead to the rapid development of the silicon and photovoltaic industries.

　　I. Rapidly Developing Chinese Silicon Industry

　　According to statistics from the Silicon Industry Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, China's industrial silicon production capacity has increased from 1.7 million tons/year in 2006 to 2.75 million tons/year in 2010, while the output increased from 800,000 tons to 1.15 million tons during the same period, with average annual growth rates of 12.8% and 9.5% respectively. Especially after the financial crisis, with the commissioning of a large number of organosilicon and polysilicon projects and the rise of the automotive industry, the domestic industrial silicon market demand has increased significantly, which has further stimulated the enthusiasm of private investment in the industrial silicon industry, and its production capacity has shown rapid growth in the short term.

　　By the end of 2010, the domestic industrial silicon production capacity under construction in major regions had reached 1.24 million tons/year. It is expected that between 2011 and 2015, the newly built industrial silicon production capacity nationwide will reach about 2 to 2.5 million tons/year.

　　At the same time, the state is actively promoting the large-scale and scaled development of industrial silicon electric furnaces. According to industrial policies, a large number of 6300KVA small electric furnaces will be completely eliminated before 2014. It is expected that before 2015, the production capacity of small industrial silicon furnaces in China will be eliminated by 1 to 1.2 million tons per year. At the same time, current new projects, relying on advanced technological advantages, achieve industrial scale and equipment size, quickly seize the market through their own advantages in resources or logistics, and accelerate the elimination of backward production capacity.

　　Therefore, it is expected that China's metallic silicon production capacity will reach 4 million tons/year by 2015, and the industrial silicon output will reach 1.6 million tons at the same time.

　　From the perspective of global silicon industry development, the metallic silicon industry in Western developed countries will gradually shift to developing countries in the future, and production will enter a stage of slow growth, but demand will still maintain steady growth, especially from the demand for organosilicon and polysilicon industries. Therefore, Western countries will inevitably increase the import of metallic silicon. From the perspective of global supply and demand balance, the supply and demand gap for metallic silicon in developed countries such as the United States, Western Europe, Japan, and South Korea will reach 900,000 tons in 2015, and China will export 750,000 tons to meet their needs, with other developing countries supplying the remaining small portion. Of course, the Chinese government will inevitably further strengthen the qualification management of enterprises in the future and may further increase export tariffs, which will create favorable conditions for the export of metallic silicon by large enterprises.

　　At the same time, during the rapid development of the polysilicon industry nationwide, China's polysilicon industry has basically achieved large-scale industrialization of polysilicon through the introduction of advanced foreign technologies, combined with digestion, absorption, and independent innovation, and the production capacity and output have grown rapidly. With the support of national policies, domestic enterprises, relying on independent innovation and technological introduction and re-innovation, have basically mastered the key technologies for polysilicon production, breaking the monopoly and blockade of developed countries on polysilicon production technologies. According to surveys and relevant statistics, by the end of 2010, there were a total of 87 polysilicon projects under construction in China. Among the 41 completed enterprises, 3 used the silane method with a production capacity of 5,300 tons, 10 used the physical method with a production capacity of 12,200 tons, and 28 used the improved Siemens method with a production capacity of 70,210 tons. The total capacity of completed projects was 87,710 tons. Among the other 47 projects under construction, the improved Siemens method had a production capacity of 85,250 tons, the silane method 6,000 tons, and physical metallurgy and other methods 22,200 tons. The total capacity of projects under construction was 113,550 tons.

　　II. Current Demand and New Requirements for Carbon Products from the Silicon Industry

　　The National "Twelfth Five-Year" Plan proposes that new energy and new materials are strategic emerging industries. With the rapid development of the new energy industry, the demand for high-grade metallic silicon from customers is increasing, which requires metallic silicon smelters to select raw materials and optimize processes to produce high-grade metallic silicon with low levels of harmful trace elements.

　　High-performance carbon materials are the industrial foundation for the development of the silicon industry, and the two coexist and prosper. Because carbon materials have very good density, hardness, and compressive strength, and have the advantages of high temperature resistance, high pressure resistance, corrosion resistance, good conductivity, and stable performance, in the silicon wafer manufacturing process, carbon materials can be made into heating containers for silicon stone materials (composite graphite crucibles), and can be used as a heat field for purifying polysilicon, pulling single crystal silicon rods, and manufacturing polysilicon ingots. Due to the excellent performance of carbon materials, no other materials can replace them so far.