Shin-Etsu adding 10% to prices for all silicone products

Tokyo – Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. is to increase prices across its entire silicone products range, the company announced 11 April.

The increase of 10% on all products handled by Shin-Etsu’s Silicone Division will be effective for shipments made starting in May.

Shin-Etsu linked the increase to a tightening in the global supply/demand situation for silicon metal raw material since mid-2021 – partly due to electricity regulations in the main production area of China.

“At the peak time, the price of silicon metal sharply rose by close to six times of the price prior to the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic,” the Japanese company reported.

“Even today, the price of silicon metal is continuing to increase by over double the price prior to the pandemic,” Shin-Etsu emphasised.

Furthermore, it noted, in production areas outside of China, the price of silicon metal remains at over three times the levels seen prior to the pandemic.

Prices for methanol raw material are also continuing at a high level, while there has been a sharp rise in the cost of the energy used in manufacturing silicone materials, continued Shin-Etsu.

Meanwhile, logistics costs and prices for secondary materials are rising due to disruptions in global logistics and a sharp rise in the price of crude oil and raw material prices, it said.