In December 2025, global chemical giant Dow announced a 10%-20% price increase for its silicone products in the Greater China region. The move immediately stirred discussions across the industry: for companies heavily reliant on imported silicone, raw material costs are set to rise further. Meanwhile, the question emerges—can domestic silicone oils fill the gap and capture this emerging opportunity?
For a long time, many manufacturers have regarded imported silicone oils as the default choice for “stability and high-end performance.” Indeed, international brands maintain advantages in impurity control, batch-to-batch consistency, and technical support responsiveness. However, with the continuous upgrading of China’s silicone industry chain, this gap is narrowing. Data show that leading domestic high-purity silicone oils now match or even surpass international brands in metal ion content, color, and acid value. In terms of molecular weight distribution and low-volatile impurity control, domestic products achieve batch viscosity tolerances within ±3%, far better than the previous industry standard of ±10%.
Beyond product specifications, service responsiveness has become another area where domestic suppliers excel. In the past, ordering imported silicone could take several weeks for sample approval and delivery; now, domestic companies can deliver samples within 48 hours and handle mass production within 7 days, significantly reducing production downtime. Many top domestic suppliers also offer customized narrow-distribution silicone, GC-MS/ICP-MS reports, and compatibility testing, evolving from mere raw material providers to solution partners.
Faced with Dow’s price hike, the opportunity for domestic silicone as an “import substitute” is increasingly visible. Particularly in fields sensitive to impurities and performance—thermal pastes, electronic-grade functional silicones, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical excipients—companies are re-evaluating domestic options. Industry experts note that once domestic silicone oils simultaneously meet performance, cost, and supply chain responsiveness, the inertia of “import-first” thinking is likely to break, accelerating the import substitution trend.
Of course, the domestic market is not yet fully uniform: not all suppliers can provide the combination of high purity, batch consistency, and professional technical support. Companies must prioritize vacuum degassing and precision distillation capabilities, robust quality control systems, and industry compliance certifications (REACH, USP, FDA) when selecting suppliers.
Overall, Dow’s price hike is not only a cost challenge but also a market opportunity for domestic silicone oils. In the wave of “import substitution,” domestic suppliers with genuine technical and service capabilities are well positioned to capture this growth. For downstream enterprises, choosing high-end domestic silicone oils can not only alleviate cost pressure but also help establish a more stable and flexible supply chain.
