(July 29, 2026) Recently, the domestic methyl silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) industry has shown clear structural differentiation. Market competition for ordinary industrial-grade products has stabilized, demand for electronic-grade and medical-grade high-purity methyl silicone oil continues to rise, the process of domestic substitution is accelerating, and downstream sectors such as new energy liquid cooling, semiconductors, medical aesthetics personal care, and medical pharmaceuticals have become the core drivers of market growth.
As the most basic and widely used downstream fluid material of organosilicon, methyl silicone oil is widely used in textile defoaming, daily chemical beauty, mechanical lubrication, electronic insulation, medical consumables, and data center immersion liquid cooling, thanks to its excellent resistance to high and low temperatures, low surface tension, chemical inertness, and insulation stability. It is known as a "multifunctional additive" in the industrial field.
From a market perspective, at the end of July, mainstream domestic prices for ordinary industrial methyl silicone oil remained at 15,000-15,500 yuan/ton, while foreign products of the same specification were quoted at 17,300-18,000 yuan/ton; High-purity electronic-grade and medical-grade products maintained a clear premium due to raw material refining and molecular distillation processes, resulting in a tight supply-demand balance. Influenced by upstream unit cost fluctuations, favorable export markets, and increased high-end downstream orders, the industry as a whole has moved away from pure price competition and shifted its focus to quality upgrades.
Industry data shows that China is now the world's largest production and consumption market for methyl silicone oil. Domestic total capacity continues to rise, but there have long been structural contradictions such as overcapacity at the low-end end and insufficient supply of high-end products. Some ultra-high-purity products in electronics and medical fields were once highly dependent on imports. With the implementation of the new national standard for "Methyl Silicone Oil," stricter restrictions have been imposed on volatile matter, ring residues, metal ions, and colorimetry, forcing the industry to eliminate outdated capacity and promote manufacturing process upgrades. Leading companies are continuously iterating in continuous synthesis and molecular distillation refining technologies, product impurity and batch stability indicators are approaching international benchmarks, and the import substitution rate of high-end domestic methyl silicone oil is steadily rising.
Structural changes on the demand side have become the industry's biggest highlight. In AI computing power data centers, immersion liquid cooling, and thermal management scenarios for new energy vehicles, procurement of insulating high-purity methyl silicone oil is rising rapidly. Demand for electronic-grade methyl silicone oil is expected to grow by more than 22% year-on-year in 2026; In the pharmaceutical sector, stricter purity controls for silicone oil are tightening for gastrointestinal imaging and pharmaceutical defoaming raw materials, driving steady growth in pharmaceutical-grade orders; In the daily chemical and beauty sector, high transparency and low volatility methyl silicone oil remains the mainstream choice for skincare and makeup formulas; The traditional textile and papermaking defoaming markets are growing steadily, but their market share is gradually declining.
Industry analysts say that in the future, the methyl silicone oil industry will continue its three main themes: "low-end clearance, high-end breakthroughs, and green manufacturing." In the short term, the market will follow upstream DMC single-merit fluctuations, with medium- to long-term growth focused on high value-added sectors such as electronic liquid cooling, new energy, and medical applications. The key competitive focus for domestic companies is no longer just capacity scale, but stable mass production capacity with low ring residue and low metal impurities, development of customized viscosity products, and the establishment of global compliance systems such as REACH, K-REACH, and food contact. Domestic silicone oil companies are expected to continue capturing market share in the high-end segment.
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