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Silicon
Chinese production accounted for around 66% of the estimated global production in 2018.
The EU is a net importer of silicon metal with an average import of 344 kt per year over the period considered. EU imports of silicon metal mainly came from Norway (30%), China (11%) and Brazil (7%).
In 2019 China dominated production with 66% share, followed by the United States (8%), Brazil (7%) and Norway (6%). EU production of silicon metal took place in France, Germany and Spain, each with a 6% share of global supply over the same period.
Ferroglobe estimated that world silicon metal consumption must be split between the silicon (50%), aluminium (40%) and solar (10%) markets.
Around 68% of the EU's apparent consumption of silicon metal was sourced from outside the EU. The main suppliers to the EU are Norway, China and Brazil which represent respectively 44%, 16% and 10% of total EU imports.
The five-year average production of silicon metal in the EU between 2012 and 2016 was 158 kt per year, which represents 8% of world production. Norway is the main country supplying silicon metal to the EU due to of its geographical proximity and represents 44% of total imports in the period 2012-2016.
There is no restriction on trade in silicon metal (i.e., no export tax, export quota or ban on the export of silicon metal from non-EU countries) with EU member states. However, China has applied an export tax of 15% on all exports of silicon metal. The mines and quartz resources in the EU were reported by Lauri, L. et. al, (2018).
The dependence on imports of silicon metal in the EU is estimated at 63%, which is not an unexpected figure considering the relatively small EU production, high imports and low exports. There is no single source of global assessments for resources and reserves that apply the same criteria to silicon metal deposits in different geographical areas of the EU or around the world.
The USGS collects information on the quantity and quality of mineral resources but does not measure reserves directly, and companies or governments do not report reserves directly to the USGS.
Individual companies may publish mineral resource and reserve reports on a regular basis, but reporting is done using a variety of reporting systems depending on their location, corporate identity, and stock market requirements. Translations between national reporting codes are possible by applying the CRIRSCO model. which is also consistent with the United Nations Framework Classification System (UNFC).
However, data on reserves and resources change continuously as exploration and extraction proceed and are therefore influenced by market conditions and should be monitored continuously. For Europe, there is no comprehensive and harmonized dataset that present total estimates of EU resources and reserves for silicon metal.
The Minerals4EU project is the only EU-wide repository of some mineral resources and reserve data for silicon metal, but this information does not provide a complete picture for Europe. It includes estimates based on a variety of reporting codes used by different countries and different types of non-comparable data sets.
Furthermore, translations of Minerals4EU data using the CRIRSCO model are not always possible, which means that not all data on resources and reserves for silicon metal at national / regional level are consistent with the framework classification system of United Nations (UNFC) (Minerals4EU 2019) Many documented resources in Europe are based on historical estimates and are of little current economic interest. Data for these may not always be presentable in accordance with the UNFC system.
The global supply of silicon metal is dominated by China with approximately 1,669 kt per year equivalent to 66% of the global annual production in the years 2012-2016. The United States and Brazil were the second and third largest producing countries, each with 198 kt per year (8% of the global supply) and 190 kt per year (7% of the global supply).
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