Silicon see-saws to previously unseen highs in the West while China's price falls

Europe now has the world's most expensive silicon, with prices there and in the United States reaching new all-time highs just as prices have begun to trend down in China - where a silicon shortage started the global uptrend.

The West and China moved in opposite directions in Fastmarkets assessments for the week to Friday October 8, with Europe's price for standard silicon at its highest level since Fastmarkets started assessing it in 2017. The US price is now at its highest level and China's at its second highest level since those assessments were introduced in 1997.
China's 5.6% weekly decline in the latest silicon price assessment does not necessarily signal that prices will retreat from global peaks - even several weeks from now, since other regions are lagging price developments in China, sources said.
"It's difficult to say," one large, Western supplier said. "Supply is still short and I'm not seeing [China's] factories come back online."

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