The ultra-high purity quartz material industry is accelerating domestic substitution; breakthroughs in 4N+ level technology are breaking the overseas monopoly

Recently, the domestic ultra-high purity quartz material industry has undergone a significant transformation. High-end quartz materials with a purity of 99.99% (4N) and above have achieved multiple breakthroughs in technology research and development, production capacity implementation, and application adaptation. With the iterative upgrading of downstream high-end manufacturing industries such as semiconductors, high-end optics, advanced photovoltaics, and aerospace, ultra-high purity quartz, as a core essential auxiliary material, is experiencing accelerated domestic production, gradually breaking the long-standing monopoly of overseas companies and becoming one of the core tracks for the high-end upgrading of the new materials industry.

According to industry research data, the domestic high-purity quartz material market structure continued to optimize in 2025. Ultra-high purity quartz products with a purity ≥99.995% accounted for 38.6% of the market, an increase of 9.5 percentage points compared to 2023. The industry's value focus is shifting entirely towards ultra-high purity and high value-added fields. From a product value perspective, the unit price of ultra-high purity quartz materials far exceeds that of ordinary quartz products. The average unit price of high-end ultra-high purity quartz sand reaches 28,600 yuan/ton, more than 89 times that of ordinary construction quartz sand. Technological barriers have become the core support for the industry's profitability.

In terms of core technology iteration, the domestic industry has formed three mature technological paths: mineral purification, crystal melting, and chemical synthesis. The industrialization progress of each path varies significantly. Industry data from 2025 shows that mineral-purified fused quartz, with its technological maturity advantage, accounts for 68.3% of the market value, making it the current mainstream process. Crystal-melted quartz accounts for 22.1%, suitable for mid-to-high-end optical and photovoltaic applications. While synthetic fused quartz currently accounts for only 9.6% of the market value, its ultra-high purity and adaptability advantages have led to a year-on-year growth rate of 142%, making it the fastest-growing technology track in the industry.

The mass production of high-purity products has achieved a key breakthrough, completely rewriting the technological shortcomings of the domestic industry. Previously, the top-grade ultra-high purity quartz materials of 6N (99.9999%) and 7N (99.99999%) were long monopolized by overseas companies. Domestically, only 4N-grade basic ultra-high purity products could be mass-produced, failing to meet the demands of cutting-edge applications such as EUV optical systems and high-end semiconductor wafer manufacturing. Currently, domestic companies have achieved a technological breakthrough. Several leading companies have completed mass production of 6N-grade quartz ingots and passed adaptation tests with leading manufacturers. Among them, Hongyang Quartz has successfully mass-produced 7N-grade synthetic quartz sand with completely independent intellectual property rights, building a complete technology matrix from precursor technology and chemical synthesis processes to core equipment and application verification. Meanwhile, leading companies such as Kaisheng Technology, Feilihua, and Quartz Shares continue to increase investment in R&D. Kaisheng Technology's 5,000-ton-level synthetic silica project has been successfully launched, capable of stably outputting 6N-7N-grade ultra-high purity products, gradually realizing the market supply of high-end products.

Breakthroughs on the resource side have filled the gaps in the upstream of the industrial chain, laying a solid foundation for the large-scale development of the industry. For a long time, high-grade quartz mineral resources have been scarce in China. The average purity of SiO₂ in domestic ores is only 99.3%-99.7%, which is insufficient to meet the production demand for ultra-high purity products of 4N5 and above. Globally, over 90% of the high-end raw material market share is monopolized by American and Norwegian companies. In 2025, significant breakthroughs were achieved in domestic resource exploration. High-purity quartz deposits were discovered in the eastern Qinling Mountains of Henan and the Altay region of Xinjiang, and these deposits were officially listed as new national mineral resources, filling the gap in domestic high-end quartz mineral resources. This effectively alleviated the industry's pain point of high dependence on imported upstream raw materials and provided resource guarantees for the large-scale, low-cost production of ultra-high purity quartz materials.

The market competition landscape shows a trend of concentration among leading companies and technological differentiation, with industry concentration continuing to increase. As of 2025, the top five companies in the domestic ultra-high purity quartz material industry collectively held 63.4% of the market share, demonstrating a significant leading effect. Among them, Feilihua and Quartz Shares, with their complete industry chain layout and stable high-end supply capabilities, have firmly established themselves in the top tier of the industry. Their products comprehensively cover semiconductor-grade, optical-grade, and photovoltaic-grade applications, and they have successfully entered the supply chains of leading domestic semiconductor companies such as SMIC, Yangtze Memory Technologies, and NAURA Technology Group. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are focusing on niche markets, leveraging differentiated processes to seize the mid-range ultra-high purity market. The industry is gradually moving away from extensive expansion and entering a refined development stage characterized by comprehensive competition in technology, quality, and production capacity.

Downstream high-end market demand continues to expand, driving steady growth in ultra-high purity quartz materials. In the photovoltaic sector, the widespread adoption of high-efficiency N-type photovoltaic cells and large-size quartz crucibles continues to drive demand for ultra-high purity quartz sand of grade 4N and above. Global demand for ultra-high purity quartz sand for photovoltaic applications is projected to exceed 300,000 tons by 2030. In the semiconductor sector, upgrades in chip manufacturing processes are leading to a surge in demand for core components such as high-purity quartz crucibles, quartz flanges, and reaction chambers. 6N and 7N grade ultra-high purity synthetic quartz materials have become essential materials for advanced processes and EUV optical equipment. Furthermore, the high-end upgrades in aerospace, high-precision optics, and fiber optic communications are continuously expanding the application boundaries of ultra-high purity quartz materials.

The industry as a whole is returning to a rational development trend, moving away from the previous chaotic expansion. In 2023-2024, there are over 170 planned or under-construction high-purity quartz sand projects in China, adding over 2.3 million tons of new capacity. This temporary overcapacity has led to a decline in prices for mid-range products, and the industry's investment fervor is gradually cooling down. Entering 2025, market consolidation accelerated, with low-end and inefficient production capacity gradually exiting the market. Enterprises shifted their R&D focus entirely to ultra-high purity high-end products of 4N and above, transforming the industry from "scale expansion" to "technology improvement," leading to continuous optimization of the industrial structure.

Industry experts indicate that China's ultra-high purity quartz material industry has completed the leap from "absence" to "usability," but shortcomings remain in the high-end sector. Domestically produced synthetic quartz materials still lag slightly behind top-tier products from Japan and the United States in details such as metal impurity control, bubble precision, and batch stability. Complete substitution in high-end semiconductors and extreme optics applications will require another 2-3 years of in-depth technological development. In the future, as domestic enterprises continue to overcome core processes, improve the entire industrial chain layout, and leverage local high-quality mineral resources to reduce costs and increase efficiency, ultra-high purity quartz materials will achieve comprehensive domestic substitution, becoming a crucial benchmark for the independent control of China's high-end new materials industry.