Asian Fused silica prices fell last week as ample Chinese supply and muted demand in electronics, automotive, and semiconductors weighed on sentiment, with Indian markets further pressured by competitive imports and seasonal weakness.
Asian Fused silica prices registered downward revisions during the week ending August 8, 2025, with China as well as India mirroring bearish sentiment fuelled by bountiful supply and lacklustre downstream demand. The regional market experienced a clear disparity between stagnant output and subdued consumption, maintaining softness in the outlook despite isolated opportunity in electronics and tariff-fuelled export flows. Cost pressures remained in check, with feedstock materials like quartz and silica sand continuing to be readily available and logistics disruptions having little long-term effect.
In China, Fused Silica prices fell as structurally ample supply conditions conflicted with tepid downstream demand. Feedstock Quartz and silica sand mining and processing remained at steady rates in Jiangsu and Shandong, and big smelters maintained high production rates without experiencing raw material or power constraints. Although short-term weather difficulties hampered trucking and rail operations in portions of South China, diversified shipping alternatives buffered interruption to guarantee plant continuity.
On the demand side, automotive and electronic sectors were seasonally weak, with subdued NEV sales and PCB overcapacity dampening procurement. Fused silica demand from Semiconductor provide baseline support but did not grow noticeably, while Southeast Asian and Indian customers retreated from new spot buying. Inventories remained high and price sentiment biased south.
In India, the prices of Fused silica dropped during the period, driven largely by weak domestic demand and robust imports. China's competitive exports, led by a decline in container freight rates, improved availability at major ports like Nhava Sheva and Mumbai, maintaining high stock levels.
Domestic demand trailed behind this supply lead, as the auto industry experiencing a monsoon seasonal slowdown—passenger vehicle sales declined by 1.97% from month to month in July. Electronic exports, while growing very strongly on mobile handset shipments, created only modest pull because it requires limited Fused silica compared with broader electronic components. On the same note, as semiconductor initiatives continued to rack up policy and investment steam, their near-term material pull remained insignificant.
Cumulatively, these forces-maintained buyers' bargaining power with and sustained the bearish sentiment across India's Fused silica sector.
In the future, Asian fused silica prices will continue to be under pressure in the near term as Chinese manufacturers continue keeping output high and shipping surpluses at competitive prices. Recovery in electronics, automobile, and semiconductors demand continues to remain weak, giving buyers more bargaining power. Unless downstream demand picks up strength in late Q3, Fused Silica market sentiment will likely remain subdued.
