In April, the market of corundum and silicon carbide focused on maintaining overall stability. The prices of brown fused alumina and white fused alumina were the same as last month, while the silicon carbide price declined slightly from last month.

 

 

The brown fused alumina market as a whole remained stable this month. Taking Henan dumping furnace brown fused alumina 95 section sand as an example, the mainstream quotation was 4580 yuan/ton, the price was the same as the previous month, and a year-on-year decrease 7.01% (the above is the ex-factory price including tax).

This month, the Henan region has strict environmental protection inspections, and some enterprises have slowed down their production pace, and output has decreased. From the perspective of Guizhou, the production of enterprises is acceptable, and individual enterprises have the intention to resume production, and the capacity utilisation rate may be improved. On the whole, the supply of brown fused alumina is sufficient, but due to the rising prices of raw materials such as electrodes and bauxite, the production cost is high. It is expected that the brown fused alumina market will fluctuate and operate in the next month.

 

 

This month, the white fused alumina market is operating steadily. For example, the white fused alumina section sand in the Henan area has a mainstream price of 4,200 yuan/ton. The price is the same as the previous month and a year-on-year decrease of 6.67% (the above is the ex-factory price including tax).

It is understood that at present, the white fused alumina enterprises in Chiping, Shandong are still in the process of suspending production, and the specific resumption time has not been determined, and the company has little inventory left. According to processing companies that purchase block materials from Chiping, the current supply of white fused alumina blocks is tight, and the purchase price has risen. Enterprises in Henan are worried that there will be corresponding control measures in Henan in the later period. They are currently actively preparing for stocks. For personal use, refuse to sell. Although the current supply of white fused alumina is tight, the white fused alumina market has not seen too many calls for price increases because companies supply more old customers. It is expected that the white fused alumina market will continue to operate stably in the short term.

 

 

This month, the Shanxi bauxite market has been operating steadily as a whole. As of press time, 70 bauxite blocks in the Shanxi area are 800-850 yuan/ton, 75 bauxite blocks are 1050-1200 yuan/ton (the above are ex-factory excluding tax price).

According to the investigation, the environmental protection supervision in the Shanxi region was strict this month. Most of the bauxite production kilns in the Xiaoyi area still stopped production. The production rhythm in the Jiexiu area is also slow, and the supply of bauxite is decreasing. Affected by the high grade of bauxite ore and the high cost of bauxite firing, most production enterprises mainly produce high-grade bauxite clinker. Therefore, the resources of medium and low-grade bauxite clinker are less, and the supply is tight. The short-term supply is challenging to increase rapidly. It is expected that the low- and medium-grade bauxite market will operate steadily and firmly in the short term, and the high-grade bauxite market will mainly undergo turbulence and consolidation operations.

 

 

This month, the silicon carbide market is mainly stable. As of press time, the mainstream price of 98 pieces of silicon carbide in Ningxia is 5,800 yuan/ton, down 1.69% month-on-month and 1.69% year-on-year (the above are ex-factory prices including tax).

In terms of exports, the export volume of silicon carbide in March was 37,200 tons, an increase of 11.65% year-on-year and an increase of 119.12% month-on-month. The export situation in mid-March of the first quarter improved markedly, and favourable market factors appeared. In response to the requirements of green production in the domestic market, the goal of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” has been achieved. The number of blast furnace maintenance and repairs has increased. The consumption of raw materials has been reduced, domestic and foreign demand has been unstable, and the requirements for silicon carbide have increased under the new situation. The market is facing new challenges, and it is expected that silicon carbide companies may continue to operate steadily with meagre profits in the short term.