London, September 25th (Argus) - Ferroglobe, a producer of silicon and ferroalloys, will suspend all its metal silicon production in Europe starting from October. This is because, in the face of long-term sluggish demand, it is unable to compete with low-cost products imported from third countries.
This closure will affect three silicon factories in France - Angersford, Les Claviers, and Montreuil - as well as the Sabon factory in Spain. Ferroglobe's fourth silicon factory in France - Loudon - has already shifted to producing ferro-silicon.
Ferroglobe has not disclosed when or if the shutdown will end. The company's metal silicon production capacity is approximately 330,000 tons per year, although the share in the EU has not been disclosed publicly.
Due to the weak automotive and other consumer markets, the demand of aluminum alloy and silicon producers (the main end-users of European metallurgical-grade silicon) remains very low. Recently, the US chemical company Dow Chemical announced that it will close its silicon oxide plant in Barry, UK, in mid-2026, while the Norwegian silicon producer AkzoNobel is divesting its organic silicon business to enable it to focus on silicon products.
Ferroglobe's shutdown is a further blow to silicon production in Europe. Previously, the silicon metal production plant of PCC BakkiSilicon in Iceland's Husavik was shut down in mid-July. Germany's RW Silicium is a subsidiary of AMG, and its four furnaces have only been operating one since the second quarter. Sources say that other producers have already stopped operations.
Due to the large inventories held by Ferroglobe and other suppliers, the expected short-term impact on market prices and fundamentals is limited. Even if these inventories decrease, third-country suppliers led by China can fill the gap. The reduction in EU demand has itself prompted Ferroglobe's shutdown, which will further mitigate the impact.
Ferroglobe told Argus: "These expensive imported products indicate that the EU urgently needs to take trade measures. The European Commission must make a final decision no later than November 19th."
Although metal silicon is still within the safeguard measures investigation of the EU, the preliminary measures that may be taken in August do not include silicon. Argus believes this is the result of opposition from EU organic silicon producers. These measures have never been implemented, leading to doubts about whether the EU will reconsider including silicon in it, especially after Ferroglobe's shutdown. Some market participants suspect whether the EU will prioritize protecting the EU silicon industry over indirectly increasing the input costs of EU aluminum alloy and silicon manufacturers.
Canada has been a major partner for Japan in establishing a sustainable global battery supply chain. Japanese metal producer Sumitomo Metal Mining also purchased shares in FPX to obtain the right to purchase nickel from the 59,000-ton Baptise nickel project in British Columbia.
