Silicon AO

History

2025: Production shutdown due to global dumping prices and overproduction

The largest silicon plant in Russia, owned by Rusal, will suspend its work from January 1, 2026. This decision was made due to the excess supply on the world market and an increase in the import of silicon into Russia at low prices. This was reported in the press service of Rusal in mid-November 2025.

At the same time, its representatives noted that the Silicon Ural enterprise will continue its work, but not at full capacity.

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Фото: Freepik

Earlier, the company informed about a 35% decrease in silicon production in 2025 - to about 35 thousand tons. This was due to a global oversupply caused by overproduction in China. In 2024, according to the RIA Novosti agency, the production of silicon products amounted to 53.4 thousand tons.

According to the company, the production capacity of the Silicon plant is 34 thousand tons per year, and the Silicon Ural plant is 27 thousand tons per year. Rusal enterprises are the only producers of refined silicon in Russia - a material purified from impurities used in high-tech industries. The annual capacity of the domestic market of this material in Russia is estimated at about 45 thousand tons.

According to RIA Novosti, Silicon JSC has notified the government of the Irkutsk region and the administration of the city of Shelekhov about the upcoming suspension of production. The company hopes for interaction to develop solutions that will help minimize the negative social consequences of such a step.

Elena Lazko, managing partner of the S + Consulting consulting company, explained that cheap imports from China became the reason for the fall in world prices for silicon. She also stressed that the most significant decline in value occurred in regions without protective trade duties, which include the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union^[1]

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