On May 8, 2026, the Hubei Organic Silicon Industry Alliance released data showing that the annual production capacity of ethyl silicone oil in the province has exceeded 80000 tons, accounting for 45% of the total national production capacity, forming an industrial cluster with Wuhan, Tianmen, and Jingmen as the core, and becoming a key node in the global ethyl silicone oil supply chain.


Leading enterprises drive the upgrading of the entire chain
Hubei Jusheng Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the benchmark enterprises in the industry. Its investment of 230 million yuan to build an annual production line of 30000 tons of ethyl silicone oil will be put into operation in 2025. It adopts a direct synthesis process to increase product purity to 99.9% and reduce unit energy consumption by 20%. The catalyst system we jointly developed with Fudan University in Shanghai has increased the reaction efficiency by three times, and the single reactor production capacity has been increased from 5 tons to 15 tons, with significant cost advantages, "said Wang Lei, the general manager of the company


In the downstream of the industrial chain, Kandis Chemical (Hubei) Co., Ltd. focuses on high-end applications. Its developed low viscosity ethyl silicone oil (viscosity 18-26 mPa · s) has entered the supply chain of Tesla's Shanghai factory and is used for lubricating the cooling pipes of new energy vehicle battery packs. The order volume will exceed 2000 tons by 2025. Hubei Nona Technology Co., Ltd. targets the field of biomedicine, and its medical grade ethyl silicone oil has passed ISO 10993 biocompatibility certification, becoming the core component of artificial joint lubricants and filling the domestic gap.


Policy dividends release innovative vitality
The "14th Five Year Plan" for the development of new materials industry in Hubei Province clearly proposes to list organosilicon as a strategic emerging industry and provide up to 50% financial subsidies for research and development projects of ethyl silicone oil. In 2025, Tianmen City will establish the first national public testing platform for ethyl silicone oil, equipped with equipment such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer, providing enterprises with full process testing services from raw materials to finished products. The testing cycle will be shortened to 3 days and the cost will be reduced by 60%.


International cooperation expands market space
Hubei enterprises are accelerating their global layout through technology output and capacity cooperation. In 2025, Hubei Xinkang Pharmaceutical and Chemical Co., Ltd. will establish a joint venture with German BCD Chemie GmbH to build a 10000 ton per year ethyl silicone oil factory in Hamburg, which will directly supply products to the European automotive industry; Wuhan Kanos Technology Co., Ltd. has reached an agreement with South Korean SK Group to jointly develop flexible display screen materials based on ethyl silicone oil, and is expected to achieve mass production by 2027.


Industry Challenges and Responses
Despite rapid development, the ethyl silicone oil industry in Hubei still faces issues such as fluctuations in raw material supply and a shortage of high-end talent. In 2025, due to the impact of international chloroethane prices, the cost of ethyl silicone oil will increase by 12%, and the profit margins of some small and medium-sized enterprises will be compressed. In response, the Hubei Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology has promoted the establishment of an organic silicon raw material reserve center to stabilize price fluctuations through centralized procurement and strategic reserves. At the same time, universities such as Wuhan University of Technology and Huazhong University of Science and Technology have added undergraduate majors in "Organic Silicon Materials", training 500 professionals annually to provide intellectual support for the sustainable development of the industry.


Chen Jianguo, Chairman of the Hubei Organic Silicon Industry Alliance, said, "By 2028, Hubei will have built the world's largest research and production base for ethyl silicone oil, forming a billion dollar industrial cluster and promoting China's transition from a major organic silicon country to a strong nation