SiC Market in China: low export growth in 2015
China is the world's largest producer and exporter of SiC, with capacity reaching 2.2 million tons, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global total. As China's SiC export quota was abolished in 2013, SiC exports have expanded in recent years. But according to RnRMarketResearch's reports 'China SiC Industry Report, 2015-2019' and 'Global and Chinese SiC Industry, 2015 Market Research Report, in January to November 2015, China's SiC exports came to 291,100 tons, up only 0.4 percent from the same period of last year; and the average export price fell from $1.1/kg in 2013 to $0.97/kg.
In 2014, the total SiC output in China approximated 1.03 million tons, including 670,000 tons of black SiC and 360,000 tons of green SiC. It is projected that the total output in 2015 would reach 1.2 million tons.
There are about 200 SiC raw materials manufacturers in China, including Yicheng New Energy, Xinjiang Longhai Silicon, Lanzhou Heqiao, and Ningxia Jinjing, etc. Among them, Yicheng New Energy constitutes China's largest SiC blade material production and recycling company, with its annual SiC capacity totaling 210,000 tons and its annual wafer cutting mortar recycling capacity more than 60,000 tons.
Key Enterprises involved in this research are Henan Yicheng New Energy, Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry, Xinjiang Tianfu Energy, Lanzhou Heqiao Resource, Ningxia Jinjing Metallurgicals and Minerals Industrial, Linshu Zhengyu SiC Factory, Tonghua Hongxin Abrasive, Jiangsu Leyuan Material, Hanjiang Hongyuan Xiangyang SiC Special Ceramics, and YILI MASTER Carborundum Products.
With overcapacity of SiC raw materials and ongoing falling prices in China, the corporate profits were severely squeezed. Hence, it becomes an inevitable trend to aggressively develop high value-added SiC wafer products so as to raise SiC value. Despite the fact that SiC wafer production technologies were previously in the hands of Cree, a US company, China has now broken the monopoly and achieved mass production of SiC wafer of certain size.
At present, the enterprises that mass produce SiC wafer include TanKeBlue Semiconductor, SICC Materials, EpiWorld International, and Dongguan Tianyu Semiconductor; the sole enterprise that can produce SiC devices is Global Power Technology.
TanKeBlue Semiconductor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xinjiang Tianfu Energy, is the first and largest supplier of SiC mono-crystal products in China. Currently, the company has developed 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch SiC wafers, with its annual capacity of 70,000 pieces.
Global Power Technology, a leader in China in industrialisation of SiC power devices, has China's only SiC device production line. In 2014, the company succeeded in mass producing SiC Schottky Barrier Diode, but the scale was still at the starting stage, with the current capacity of only 4,000 pieces/annum.
