Weekly Solar Market Price Trends: Mainland China Report 11

Solarzoom Solar Market Report Oct 8-Oct 12, 2012

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Silicon material

Currently, the domestic market price of level-1 material is 135 CNY/kg, while it stands at 130 CNY/kg for level-2 ones. The main price of the imported level-1 materials is $19.59 /kg, and $19.914 /kg for level-2 ones.

After the holidays, the demand for modules in Europe and Australia had a certain increase, which improved the utilization of some downstream manufacturers. However, given that the inventory volume of domestic wafers is high at the moment, the demand for silicon material remains stagnant. Currently, only a handful of silicon material manufacturers are in production, and most of them maintain low capacity utilization. Nevertheless, the pressure from the overcapacity hasn’t been released totally. At present, there are still a lot of backlogged resources that were purchased previously, and they remain on the market. The price of some domestic level-2 silicon materials has been reduced to 125 CNY/Kg, but we learned that the price of those silicon materials was offered by only few manufacturers and are not yet a price pattern. Regarding the foreign market, this week, the result of the US anti-dumping investigation arbitration came out. As expected, the US Department of Commerce has determined that Chinese producers and exporters have sold solar cells in the United States at dumping margins. At the moment, most manufacturers hope that the government will take measures against the dumping of foreign poly silicon materials, yet It is expected that the price of silicon material will remain leveled off. 

Wafer

This week, the price of mono-c-Si wafers dropped sharply. Concerning mono-c-Si 125mm*125mm wafer, the price of tier-1 suppliers stood at 5.0 CNY/pc, and 4.3 CNY/pc for tier-2 ones. As to mono-c-Si 156mm*156mm wafer，the price of tier-1 suppliers arrived at 7.9 CNY/pc, and 7.5 CNY/pc for tier-2 ones. Finally, in terms of poly-c-Si 156mm*156mm wafer, the price of tier-1 suppliers reached 6.7 CNY/pc, and 6.3 CNY/pc for tier-2 ones. 

This is the first work week after the National Day holiday. Most wafer manufacturers felt pessimistic, and they hold the opinion that prices will keep declining. At present, some shut-down firms still have not recovered their production and they are paying close attention to the market. As to those enterprises who are still selling, they mainly maintain their quotation considering that circulating wafer quantities are limited and the price will probably not have a further decline restricted by the cost. The sluggish wafer market also makes wafer traders feel worried. The quotation of Grade B wafers got more confused, since some traders held a pessimistic attitude to the future market and they have begun to undersell their products, which added certain restrictions to the Grade A wafer market.

Cell

Currently, considering mono-c-Si 125mm*125mm cell, the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 2.9 CNY/W, and 2.4 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. Regarding mono-c-Si 156mm*156mm cell，the price of tier-1 suppliers arrived at 3.1 CNY/W, and 2.65 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. Lastly, in terms of poly-c-Si 156mm*156mm cell, the price of tier-1 suppliers reached 2.6 CNY/W, and 2.4 CNY/W for tier-2 ones.

 

This week, the production condition of some large-scale cell manufacturers improved, and the utilization of some of them has reached above 80%. This is because downstream manufacturers received a certain volume of orders from overseas, which suggests that regular demand from Europe is recovering. Even so, the small-size orders make cell manufacturers still unstable. In addition, owing to the bad result of the US AD&CVD investigation, the market is lacking in confidence in the short term. The majority of manufacturers hold an opinion that the gloomy situation is difficult to have a positive turn if there is no good news coming out.

Module

Now, concerning mono-c-Si 190W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 4.45 CNY/W, and 4.0 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. As to mono-c-Si 245W module，the price of tier-1 suppliers arrives at 5.1 CNY/W, and 4.65 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. In terms of poly-c-Si 230W module, the price of tier-1 supplier reached 4.2 CNY/W, and 3.7 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. Concerning mono-c-Si 195W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 4.65 CNY/W, and 4.1 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. As to mono-c-Si 250W module，the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 5.20 CNY/W, and 4.8 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. Finally, in terms of poly-c-Si 240W module, the price of tier-1 supplier reaches 4.45 CNY/W, and 4.05 CNY/W for tier-2 ones.

The prices this week are almost same as those of last week. The result of the US AD&CVD investigation is really a source of bad news to China’s solar firms, but since it has been expected, some domestic manufacturers have been ready to face up with the coming tough times. Other firms had already taken preparatory measures when the US started the investigation, so they were not afraid to cope with the conditions. Compared with the US market, the demand in Europe and Australia improved recently. It is expected that China’s solar firms will have a certain volume of trading with Europeans and Australians moving forward.

Tier-one companies include the U.S. and HK stock market-listed entities, with large capacity and product circulation in the market, like Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR)(NYSE:STP), Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: YGE), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL), JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR)(NASDAQ: JASO) and ReneSola Ltd. (ADR)(NYSE: SOL)

Prices quoted in CNY include 17% VAR domestic tax.