Major countries in silicon production 2013-2018

China is the world’s largest silicon producer, with a production volume estimated at four million metric tons in 2018. The second largest producer of this metalloid in the world is Russia, which produced 670,000 metric tons in the same year. The total global production of silicon on 2018 was an estimated 6.7 million metric tons.

Silicon and silicon wafers

Silicon is a chemical element and a semiconductor that is economically important worldwide due to its industrial uses in steel refining, aluminum-casting, chemical processes, and perhaps as it is most widely known, in semiconductor electronics. Silicon wafers are thin slices of semiconductor that are used for the fabrication of integrated circuits, and to manufacture solar cells. In 2018, the global demand for silicon wafers is estimated to have been about 11.8 billion square inches. Silicon wafers are used in a variety of products, including mobile/smartphones, desktops, notebooks, industrial products, and other electronic products. Mobile/smartphones accounted for the largest demand overall. In 2017, the silicon wafer demand for mobile phones and smart phones was 19.2 billion square centimeters. Desktops, notebooks, and server PCs followed at 11.3 billion square centimeters.