2026-03-10
Oil Price Surge Amid Iran Conflict Roils Global Silicone Industry
WTI crude oil futures hit the $90 per barrel mark, the first time since October 2023, while Brent crude closed near $93 per barrel. Qatar’s Energy Minister warned that if oil tankers and other merchant ships are unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices could soar to $150 per barrel within two to three weeks.
Looking ahead, as international oil prices face the risk of getting out of control against the backdrop of geopolitical conflicts, the cost pressure on the silicone industry is far from peaking. In this supply chain storm triggered by geopolitics, coupled with the combined effects of industry cycles and emission reduction policies, the industry reshuffle is accelerating.
Leading enterprises have built a temporary moat relying on vertical integration layouts and financial hedging tools, while more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have fallen into a dilemma: either raising prices and losing customers, or maintaining prices and facing losses and bankruptcy.
It is foreseeable that those silicone enterprises that respond faster and layout earlier in cost transmission mechanisms, supply chain resilience construction and technological substitution paths will be more likely to survive this extreme pressure and reshape the future industry pattern.