Silicon carbide is an invaluable material in industrial settings, boasting properties that allow it to withstand high temperatures and chemicals while serving as an effective refractory material.
Silicon carbide is produced by melting raw materials such as quartz sand and petroleum coke in a resistance furnace, but also naturally occurs as the mineral called moissanite.
Cost of raw materials
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a chemical compound composed of both silicon and carbon that has many electronic applications, making it a wide band-gap semiconductor material with great electrical field strength, thermal conductivity and hardness characteristics. Silicon carbide’s harder surface can withstand extreme temperatures, corrosion and magnetic fields without becoming sensitive over time; naturally found as moissanite gemstone, most silicon carbide sold worldwide comes from synthetic sources.
Due to market fluctuations, prices of raw materials for silicon carbide production fluctuate with fluctuating market conditions. Quartz sand and petroleum coke are two key raw materials used in making silicon carbide; their prices rely heavily on coal prices, oil costs and overall macroeconomic trends; their prices also depend heavily on demand from downstream application enterprises.
In the first quarter of 2023, prices of raw materials for silicon carbide rose due to high input costs and rising inflation rates, only to drop slightly in the second quarter due to reduced manufacturing activities and consumer spending reduction. Still, silicon carbide demand should remain strong due to increasing sales of electric vehicles across Asia-Pacific regions.
Cost of production
Silicon carbide is used in applications requiring high endurance, such as abrasives, polishing and grinding. Additionally, silicon carbide can be found naturally in moissanite jewels and in kimberlite deposits but most silicon carbide produced is synthetically synthesized through superheating high-grade silica (SiO2) with petcoke (C) for 3-10 days at 10% IRR in electric furnaces, an energy intensive process which also generates CO2.
SiC semiconductors have long been considered an appealing alternative to silicon semiconductors due to their superior performance in devices requiring high power. Their higher bandgap enables it to function at much higher temperatures, voltages and frequencies than competing semiconductors while they can also be manufactured into larger wafers than silicon semiconductors.
SiC is currently one of the most commonly utilized materials in automotive applications. Due to its hardness and corrosion-resistance properties, SiC makes an ideal material choice for brake discs, engine components and suspension systems. Furthermore, its lightweight properties enable more efficient driving ranges while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle weight.
The report includes an in-depth assessment of all expenditures needed to establish a silicon carbide manufacturing plant, from costs related to raw materials, utilities and infrastructure needs, through machinery/technology costs as well as manpower requirements and packaging/transport.
Cost of sintering
Cost of silicon carbide sintering depends on several variables, including raw material costs and manufacturing process considerations. Demand and supply can have an effect, as can the prices of raw materials such as silicon metal and petroleum coke; additionally, cost depends on equipment used during production.
Sintering is a high-temperature, pressure-heated process used to promote particle diffusion, flow and mass transfer while increasing strength, hardness and permeability of materials. Sintering can be applied across industries – from manufacturing ceramics and refractory materials to creating graphite electrodes for iron-making blast furnaces.
Silicon carbide production is an integral step of modern industry, used widely as an advanced high-tech refractory material. To produce it, quartz sand and petroleum coke must first be heated to very high temperatures before being placed in a resistance furnace at high pressures – or alternatively it can also be produced using natural minerals such as moissanite.
Silicon carbide ceramic is one of the hardest ceramics, with excellent wear resistance at elevated temperatures and superior thermal conductivity properties that allow it to retain its hardness over its lifecycle. Due to this property, silicon carbide is often specified for seal faces and pump parts due to its superior performance.
Cost of refractory materials
Refractory materials are essential in the production of silicon carbide and should not be overlooked during its creation. They help prevent oxidation while increasing heat resistance of products as well as improving durability of materials, including those available as granular sand or micro-powder for use during sintering, coating and machining processes for silicon carbide.
Refractory materials used in silicon carbide manufacturing vary depending on their quality and purity of raw material sources. As silicon carbide is made from pure silicon dioxide and carbon, its production requires high quality refractory materials containing at least 99.7% SiO2. Natural silica sand and ground quartz are preferred raw materials with SiO2 contents exceeding 99.7% while low-ash petroleum coke offers superior purity than charcoal or anthracite sources.
Procurement Resource offers up-to-date prices of Silicon Carbide along with an easy graphing tool that enables users to customise price data over any user-specified time period. In the first quarter of 2023, rising raw material costs and positive demand sentiment pushed prices of silicon carbide higher; however, during the second quarter due to lower manufacturing activity this price trend reverted substantially; it is anticipated to continue decreasing over time. Procurement Resource offers these latest prices along with its user-friendly graphing tool that lets users customize data over a user-specified time period; Procurement Resource provides latest prices of Silicon Carbide along with user-friendly graphing tool that displays price data over user-specified time period of choice.
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