Green Ferro Alloy has signed a land lease agreement to establish Oman’s first silicon metal plant in the Sohar Port and Freezone.

Silica is a highly abundant raw material more commonly known as quartz - the main material making up white sands and sandstones across the globe. Smelting silica into either ferrosilicon or silicon metal has among the highest per tonne energy requirements compared to its bulk alloy counterparts, which has underpinned silicon smelting capacity build-out in low energy cost regions or close to steel mill supply chains, the main use of ferrosilicon. 

Silicon metal is gaining growing attention for its role in the energy transition. Its main use is in aluminium and silicones, but growth markets include semiconductors, solar PV, and a promising potential in lithium-ion batteries. According to Project Blue data, these three applications will grow to account for one-third of annual metal demand by 2050, up from only 3% at the start of the millennium.

As with many critical materials and ferroalloys, silicon metal production is dominated by China with nearly 80% of global supply in 2022. In addition, with the steel industry stagnating in China, several ferrosilicon plants are converting to their metal sibling to gain exposure to market growth trends. This has already been commonplace in Norway, where ferrosilicon production has halved from its production level in 2000. More recently Malaysia, where a ferroalloys hub was built to feed the Asian and other steel markets, is seeing furnace expansions focussing on silicon metal rather than its steel alloy counterparts. 

Oman can position its silicon metal project to offer an alternative silicon metal source for Europe and the USA as new energy markets expand and critical material acts target diversification from a China dependence.