The Chinese economic revolution looks set to continue, with plans for the country to become a net exporter of silicone by 2010.

Currently, the American Dow Corning and Germany's Wacker Chemical are working on a joint project to build a 450,000-ton silicone facility in China's Zhangjiagang city, in the Jiangsu province.

With a variety of similar programmes underway across the country, China Chemical News has reported that China can expect to see a silicone production capacity of around 1.25 million tons by the end of the decade.

This expected increase in silicone output may have an important effect on the platinum market, as the precious metal is used as a catalyst in the synthesis of silicone products.

The increase in output has been fuelled by a massive jump in demand in the country, which has risen by a quarter annually for the past five years as China's industrial economy has outpaced the growth seen in any other part of the world.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd