Development of silicon carbide crystals and devices

China is the largest producer and exporter of silicon carbide in the world, with the capacity reaching 2.2 million tons, sweeping more than 80% of the global total. However, excessive capacity expansion and oversupply lead to the capacity utilization less than 50%. In 2015, the silicon carbide output in China totaled 1.02 million tons, with the capacity utilization rate of only 46.4%; in 2016, the total output was estimated to be about 1.05 million tons, with the capacity utilization rate of 47.7%.
Since China’s silicon carbide export quota was abolished, China’s silicon carbide export volume grew rapidly during 2013-2014, and tended to stabilize during 2015-2016. In 2016, China’s silicon carbide exports came to 321,500 tons, up 2.1% year on year; wherein, Ningxia’s export volume amounted to 111,900 tons, accounting for 34.9% of the total exports and acting as a main silicon carbide exporter in China.
As China’s silicon carbide products are mainly low-end preliminarily processed products with moderate added value, the average price gap between export and import is enormous. In 2016, China’s silicon carbide exports had the average price at USD0.9 / kg, less than 1/4 of the import average price (USD4.3 / kg).
Silicon carbide is widely used in iron& steel, refractories, ceramics, photovoltaic, electronics and so on. In recent years, silicon carbide has been included in the third generation of semiconductor materials as a hot spot of the global R & D and applications. In 2015, the global silicon carbide substrate market size reached about USD111 million, and the size of silicon carbide power devices reached about USD175 million; both of them will see the average annual growth rate of more than 20% in the next five years.
At present, China has succeeded in R & D of semiconductor silicon carbide, and realized the mass production of 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch silicon carbide monocrystalline substrates, silicon carbide epitaxial wafers, and silicon carbide components. Representative enterprises include TanKeBlue Semiconductor, SICC Materials, EpiWorld International, Dongguan Tianyu Semiconductor, Global Power Technology and Nanjing SilverMicro Electronics.
Today, the development of silicon carbide crystals and devices has been contained in Made in China 2025, New Material Industry Development Guide, National Medium and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020) and many other industrial policies. Driven by multiple favorable policies and emerging markets such as new energy vehicles and smart grid, Chinese semiconductor silicon carbide market will witness quick development in future.


Post time: Jan-06-2012