China is churning out solar panels—and upsetting sand markets

Sand is everywhere. Yet only a certain sort can be used to make the ultra-clear glass required for smartphones and solar panels. It must have a silica concentration of more than 99.9%, against less than 80% for construction material. This high-quality sand is scarce: of the 50bn or so tonnes extracted each year, less than 1% can be used to produce regular glass. A tiny fraction of that is pure enough for solar panels.

As China’s leaders seek to revive the country’s economy, and to rebalance it away from property, they are throwing cash at manufacturing firms. The result is likely to be a surge in production, especially in sectors that Xi Jinping sees as important to China’s future, such as lithium-ion batteries, electric cars and solar panels, many of which require vast amounts of sand. As a result, demand will probably rise higher still. Prices are already hovering near record highs; last year they came to around $55 a tonne.