Highly Dispersible Silica Market Size, CAGR & Forecast, 2025-2035

Circular Feedstock and Tire Abrasion Rules Are Reshaping Highly Dispersible Silica Demand

Global spending on highly dispersible silica reached USD 2.36 Billion in 2025, and Radial Insights expects USD 2.51 Billion in 2026 and USD 4.31 Billion by 2035, a 6.20% CAGR driven by low rolling resistance tire treads.

Highly dispersible silica, or HDS, is a precipitated silica engineered to spread evenly through a rubber compound when mixed with a silane coupling agent. In a tire tread it lowers rolling resistance and improves wet grip at the same time, which is why it underpins the A and B labels of the EU tire label. This report covers HDS sold to tire makers and to producers of other rubber goods. It excludes standard precipitated silica used in toothpaste, feed, coatings and battery separators, as well as fumed silica, which Evonik and others make by a separate flame process.

Tires account for most HDS volume. A Notch Consulting estimate puts world precipitated silica demand at 3.1 million tonnes in 2023, with 37% going to tires and a further 28% to non-tire rubber. Within that pool, HDS is the high-value grade, and its share rises each time a tire maker shifts a product line from carbon black toward a silica-rich tread.

Bio-circular and mass-balance HDS is the fastest-growing grade at 11.80% a year. Solvay opened a rice-husk-ash silica plant in Livorno, Italy in February 2026, and Evonik began commercial production of ISCC Plus certified ULTRASIL eCO in Adapazari, Turkiye in June 2026. Asia Pacific (APAC) is the fastest region at 7.00% a year, supported by new capacity from Chinese producers and by tire plant investment across Southeast Asia.

The highly dispersible silica market is consolidating at the top while new entrants appear at the bottom. Evonik and Solvay remain the two global leaders, QEMETICA took over the former PPG silicas business in November 2024, and Chinese producers such as Wuxi Quechen and Jinsanjiang are adding plants at home and abroad.

Certified Circular Grades and EV Tire Compounds Outgrow Every Conventional Segment

Radial Insights segments the highly dispersible silica market by grade, application, tire sales channel and vehicle powertrain. Growth rates spread widely, from 3.60% for silica sold into tires for combustion-engine vehicles to 11.80% for certified circular grades, because tire makers are reformulating treads at different speeds for different products.

Bio-Circular Grades Grow More Than Twice as Fast as Conventional HDS

Bio-circular and mass-balance HDS leads at 11.80% because tire makers have public targets for renewable and recycled content. Solvay's Livorno plant makes sodium silicate from rice husk ash and cuts CO2 by 35% per tonne of silica, and Continental is a named customer. Solvay also switched its Qingdao and Gunsan plants to ISCC Plus certified waste sand in July 2026, which it says could make more than half of its regional HDS capacity circular. High-surface-area HDS grows at 7.10% as premium tread compounds push for both lower rolling resistance and better wear. Conventional HDS grows at 4.90%, the slowest grade, since new volume increasingly comes with a certification label.

Truck and Bus Tires Catch Up With Passenger Tires

Truck and bus tires grow at 6.90%, ahead of passenger car tires at 6.40%. Truck fleets pay for fuel directly and see the savings from low rolling resistance compounds, and regulators in Europe, the United States and China are tightening heavy vehicle CO2 rules. Michelin reported a 4% rise in truck replacement tire markets outside China in 2025. Two-wheeler and specialty tires grow at 5.70%, while non-tire rubber goods such as shoe soles and belts grow at 4.20%, held back by cheaper standard silica grades that are good enough for those uses.

Original Equipment Tires Specify More Silica Than Replacement Lines

Original equipment tires grow at 6.80% because car makers set tight rolling resistance targets to meet fleet CO2 limits and EV range promises. Replacement tires grow at 5.90%. They are a larger volume pool, but price-sensitive buyers in many markets still choose budget tires with less silica in the tread.

Electric Vehicle Tires Use Silica-Rich Treads

Tires for battery electric and hybrid vehicles grow at 10.40%. These vehicles are heavier and deliver instant torque, so tread compounds need lower rolling resistance for range and better abrasion resistance for wear, both of which favor HDS. Tires for internal combustion vehicles grow at 3.60% as that fleet's share of new car sales declines.

Market Trends

Rice Husk Ash Moves From Pilot to Industrial Scale

Rice husk ash is becoming a mainstream silica feedstock. In July 2025, Wuxi Quechen Silicon Chemical announced a 100,000 tonne per year rice-husk silica plant in Binhai, Jiangsu, built in two 50,000 tonne phases over 24 months, with the rice silica part costing CNY 700 million of a CNY 900 million project. In February 2026, Solvay opened what it calls Europe's first bio-circular HDS plant in Livorno. Goodyear has used rice husk ash silica in treads for years, showing that tire makers accept the material.

Mass-Balance Certification Spreads Across Asian and European Plants

Producers are using ISCC Plus certification to sell circular silica without building new lines. Evonik's Adapazari site, run by its Egesil joint venture in which it holds 51%, received ISCC Plus certification and began producing ULTRASIL eCO in June 2026. Solvay's Qingdao and Gunsan plants started making certified waste-sand silica in July 2026.

Tire Makers Are Co-Developing Silica With Suppliers

Joint development is replacing simple supply contracts. Solvay and Hankook signed a memorandum of understanding on January 10, 2025 to develop circular silica together, with Hankook evaluating samples and planning a gradual move to volume production. Continental is a named customer of Solvay's Livorno output. These links lock in long-term demand for specific grades.

Chinese Producers Are Building Plants Abroad

Chinese silica makers are following tire makers to Southeast Asia. Jinsanjiang (Zhaoqing) Silicon Material, which has 86,000 tonnes a year of capacity at Zhaoqing, filed in August 2025 for a new plant in Malaysia with investment capped at CNY 600 million. Overseas plants help producers serve the Chinese tire makers that have moved capacity to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.

Restraints and Challenges

Soft Tire Volumes Hold Back Near-Term Silica Sales

Tire output has been weak in mature markets. ETRMA data for the first half of 2025 showed European consumer tire sales of 110.336 million units, down 1%, with summer tires down 6%, and truck and bus tire sales down 4% to 5.148 million units (see ETRMA). Solvay's silica sales fell 5.1% to EUR 515 million in 2025, and Michelin guided 2026 tire markets at between minus 2% and plus 2%.

Regional Plant Closures Show Pressure on Standard Grades

Evonik said in January 2025 that it would end precipitated silica production at Havre de Grace, Maryland in mid-2026 and close its fumed silica plant in Waterford, New York, citing structural market changes. In its third quarter 2025 results, Evonik said specialty grades offset weaker standard grades, especially in Asia, while its Advanced Technologies segment saw volumes fall 2% and adjusted EBITDA drop 32%.

Circular Feedstock Brings Cost and Logistics Risks

Rice husk ash plants must sit close to rice milling regions, and Notch Consulting has warned that the ash could become a more costly commodity as demand rises. Trade press coverage of the Hankook and Solvay partnership noted the high costs and logistical challenges of rice-husk-ash silica. Producers that rely on certified feedstock may face supply limits before 2030.

Tighter Rules Add Testing and Compliance Costs

The EU's Euro 7 regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/1257, brings tire abrasion into vehicle emission rules. Compounders must prove that new silica formulations meet abrasion as well as rolling resistance and wet grip targets, which lengthens development cycles for both tire makers and silica suppliers.

Growth Drivers

Tire Abrasion Limits Reward Better-Dispersed Silica Treads

In June 2026, UNECE's WP.29 forum adopted abrasion limits for passenger car tires. New car and van tires sold from June 30, 2028 must comply, the first limits run until 2032, and stricter limits apply from 2033. UNECE estimates the rules will cut tire abrasion by more than 10%. Euro 7, adopted in 2024, builds on these limits for Europe. To pass, tire makers need tread compounds that wear more slowly without losing grip or rolling resistance, and well-dispersed silica with an efficient silane system is the most proven way to do that. Radial Insights estimates that abrasion rules add about 1.2 percentage points to annual highly dispersible silica growth from 2027, with the largest effect in the high-surface-area grade and in original equipment tires, where vehicle makers set the specification.

Electric Vehicles Raise Silica Loadings per Tire

Battery electric vehicles weigh more than comparable combustion cars and depend on low rolling resistance to deliver range. Tire makers have answered with EV-specific lines that use silica-rich treads. China's original equipment passenger tire market rose 9% in 2025, according to Michelin, much of it tied to electric vehicle output, while Europe's fell 5%. Each EV tire built with a full silica tread uses more HDS than a budget tire for a combustion car. Radial Insights credits EV tire demand with roughly +1.0% of yearly market growth over the forecast, which is why the battery electric and hybrid segment grows at 10.40% while the combustion segment grows at 3.60%.

Circular Content Targets Turn Certified Silica Into a Premium Product

Tire makers have committed to raising renewable and recycled material content. Hankook's January 2025 deal with Solvay, Continental's purchases from Livorno and Goodyear's long use of rice husk ash silica all show demand for certified grades. Solvay says its Livorno plant cuts CO2 per tonne of silica by 35%, and its Asian waste-sand switch could make more than half of its regional HDS capacity circular. Quechen's 100,000 tonne rice-husk plant and Evonik's ULTRASIL eCO add further supply. Because certified grades sell at a premium, they lift market value faster than volume. Radial Insights estimates that circular-content demand contributes around 0.8 points of annual value growth, concentrated in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Opportunities

Supplying Tire Plants in Southeast Asia and Mexico

Tire makers are building new plants in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco and Mexico. Silica producers that set up local capacity, as Jinsanjiang plans in Malaysia, can win long contracts with tire makers that prefer short supply chains and lower freight costs.

Filling the Gap Left by North American Capacity Changes

Evonik's exit from precipitated silica at Havre de Grace and QEMETICA's takeover of PPG's former plants at Lake Charles, Louisiana and Delfzijl, Netherlands reshape supply in the Atlantic region. Producers able to qualify grades quickly with North American tire plants can gain share as contracts come up for renewal.

Asia Pacific (APAC) Holds Nearly Half of Highly Dispersible Silica Demand and Adds the Most New Capacity

Asia Pacific (APAC)

Asia Pacific (APAC) accounted for 46.00% of the market in 2025, worth USD 1,085.60 Million. APAC grows at 7.00% a year to about USD 2,135.54 Million by 2035. China's tire output is expected to exceed 840 million units in 2026, and Chinese producers such as Wuxi Quechen and Jinsanjiang are adding new capacity in Jiangsu and Malaysia. Solvay's plants in Qingdao and Gunsan began making certified waste-sand silica in July 2026.

Europe

Europe held 24.50% of the market in 2025, worth USD 578.20 Million. Europe grows at 5.30% a year to about USD 969.08 Million by 2035. Europe leads in circular grades: Solvay's Livorno plant opened in February 2026, and Euro 7 brings tire abrasion into vehicle rules. European consumer tire sales were down 1% in the first half of 2025, which keeps near-term growth moderate.

North America

North America represented 18.00% of the market in 2025, worth USD 424.80 Million. North America grows at 5.20% a year to about USD 705.25 Million by 2035. Supply is changing: Evonik is ending precipitated silica output at Havre de Grace, Maryland in mid-2026, and QEMETICA now runs the former PPG plant at Lake Charles, Louisiana. U.S. tire shipments totaled 336.3 million units in 2025, according to USTMA.

Latin America

Latin America accounted for 5.20% of the market in 2025, worth USD 122.72 Million. Latin America grows at 5.90% a year to about USD 217.71 Million by 2035. New tire capacity, including Sailun's 6 million tire per year plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, which produced its first tires in May 2025, raises local demand for tread silica.

Middle East

The Middle East held 3.80% of the market in 2025, worth USD 89.68 Million. The Middle East grows at 6.60% a year to about USD 169.93 Million by 2035. Turkiye anchors regional supply through Evonik's Egesil joint venture in Adapazari, which began producing ISCC Plus certified ULTRASIL eCO in June 2026.

Africa

Africa represented 2.50% of the market in 2025, worth USD 59.00 Million. Africa grows at 6.10% a year to about USD 106.66 Million by 2035. Demand is small but rising as tire plants are planned in North Africa, including a 6 million tire per year radial plant in Morocco approved by Guizhou Tyre in January 2026.

Recent Developments

• In July 2026, Solvay started producing ISCC Plus certified waste-sand silica at its Qingdao, China and Gunsan, South Korea plants.

• In June 2026, Evonik's Adapazari site in Turkiye received ISCC Plus certification and began commercial production of ULTRASIL eCO circular silica.

• In June 2026, UNECE adopted abrasion limits for passenger car tires that apply to new car and van tires sold from June 30, 2028.

• In February 2026, Solvay opened a bio-circular highly dispersible silica plant in Livorno, Italy, using rice husk ash and cutting CO2 per tonne of silica by 35%.

• In August 2025, Jinsanjiang (Zhaoqing) Silicon Material filed plans for a new silica plant in Malaysia with investment capped at CNY 600 million.

• In July 2025, Wuxi Quechen Silicon Chemical announced a 100,000 tonne per year rice-husk silica plant in Binhai, Jiangsu.

Evonik and Solvay Still Set the Technical Standard, but Chinese and Circular Specialists Are Gaining Ground

The highly dispersible silica market has two global leaders, a group of strong regional producers and a new tier of circular specialists. Tire makers qualify each grade on each compound, so switching suppliers takes time, which keeps the leaders' positions stable even as challengers add capacity.

Global Leaders

Evonik sells HDS under the ULTRASIL brand and in April 2025 combined its silica and silane businesses into a Smart Effects unit, which lets it sell the full silica-silane system to tire makers. Solvay, which kept the silica business after the Syensqo separation, sells Zeosil HDS and reported EUR 515 million in silica sales in 2025. It is the most advanced in circular feedstock, with rice husk ash in Livorno and waste sand in Qingdao and Gunsan.

Regional and Challenger Producers

QEMETICA, the Polish group formerly known as Ciech, bought PPG's silicas business for USD 310 million in November 2024, gaining plants at Lake Charles and Delfzijl. Wuxi Quechen Silicon Chemical describes itself as the third-largest silica maker and is building rice-husk capacity. Jinsanjiang (Zhaoqing) Silicon Material runs 86,000 tonnes a year in China and is planning a Malaysian plant. Tosoh Silica sells Nipsil grades and set up a Korean joint venture for fuel-efficient tire silica. Fujian Zhengsheng is another Chinese supplier to tire makers.

Circular and Rice Husk Specialists

Oriental Silicas Corporation of Taiwan sells rice-husk-based grades from plants in Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia. Madhu Silica and the start-up Brisil in India use rice husk ash as feedstock. Yihai Kerry, part of the Wilmar group, is a leading rice-husk silica producer in China because it controls large volumes of rice milling waste.

Tire Makers as Partners

Hankook, Continental and Goodyear shape the market through joint development and long-term purchase agreements. Their choices on circular content and EV tread design decide which grades grow fastest.