Weekly Solar Market Price Trends: Mainland China Report 23

Solarzoom Solar Market Report Jan. 14, 2013 – Jan. 18, 2013

---

Silicon material

The domestic market price of level-1 material is 130 CNY/kg, and 118 CNY/kg for level-2 ones.  The price of imported level-1 materials is $18.796 /kg, while it stands at $17.706 /kg for level-2 ones.

Early in the past week, some silicon material manufacturers increased their quotation, and the trading conditions saw improvement. Some polysilicon manufacturers state that they are receiving more customer inquiries, but considering the circulation volume is limited, the price of silicon materials remains stable. Expectations are that pricing will remain firm prior to Spring Festival and it is expected to further increase after the event.

Solar Wafer

This week, regarding mono-c-Si 125mm*125mm wafer, the price of tier-1 suppliers stood at 5.1 CNY/pc, and at 4.2 CNY/pc for tier-2 ones. As to mono-c-Si 156mm*156mm wafer, the price of tier-1 suppliers arrived at 7.7 CNY/pc, and 7.3 CNY/pc for tier-2 ones. In terms of poly-c-Si 156mm*156mm wafer, the price of tier-1 suppliers reached 6.50 CNY/pc, and 5.5 CNY/pc for tier-2 ones.

With the increasing price of silicon materials, wafer manufacturers have begun to raise their quotation. Recently, some manufacturers whose order condition is favorable have begun to increase their quotation, and their trading conditions are also satisfactory. Some manufacturers reflect that they are optimistic about the market after Spring Festival, so at the moment, they are mainly raising inventories. Some large-scale manufacturers increased their quotation of mono-c-Si 156mm*156mm wafers, and they also raised the trading price. In addition, most manufacturers backlogged large inventories when the price of silicon materials was low, so the production costs will not be affected by the increasing price of silicon materials for a while. Since the inventory volume of wafers was high at one point, most manufacturers are trying to sell out more inventory, and now, the payment terms have largely improved to allow for more sales.

Solar Cell

Currently, considering mono-c-Si 125mm*125mm cell, the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 2.75 CNY/W, and 2.4 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. Regarding mono-c-Si 156mm*156mm cell, the price of tier-1 suppliers is at 2.95 CNY/W, and 2.45 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. In terms of poly-c-Si 156mm*156mm cell, the price of tier-1 suppliers has reached 2.5 CNY/W, and 2.3 CNY/W for tier-2 ones.

Affected by the increasing price of silicon materials, some buyers worry that the price of cells will also increase in the future market, so they have begun to purchase cells with larger volumes. Presently, the demand condition has improved, and the trading volume is also favorable. Nowadays, mono-c-Si cells are more popular than poly-c-Si ones, so both volume of inquiries and size of shipment have increased for this type of cell. With the increasing demand in Q1, the shipment of cells had a measurable improvement; however, since Spring Festival is coming, domestic manufacturers are very serious about collecting receivables. At present, most manufacturers do not accept credit days, and they mainly accept payment with cash. In addition, due to the low stock of mono-c-Si 125mm*125mm wafers, the quotation for this cell had the largest increase and trading volume remains low for this product.

Solar Module

Concerning mono-c-Si 190W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 4.25 CNY/W, and 3.9 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. As to mono-c-Si 245W module，the price of tier-1 suppliers is at 4.7 CNY/W, and 4.3 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. In terms of poly-c-Si 230W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers has reached 4.0 CNY/W, and 3.40 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. Concerning mono-c-Si 195W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers stands at 4.4 CNY/W, and 4.1 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. As to mono-c-Si 250W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers is at 4.80 CNY/W, and 4.5 CNY/W for tier-2 ones. And, in terms of poly-c-Si 240W module, the price of tier-1 suppliers has reached 4.10 CNY/W, and 3.8 CNY/W for tier-2 ones.

Since quotation of polysilicon had an increase, many downstream firms wanted to raise their quotation, but it did not work on the module market. Due to large inquires with low pricing made by European customers, the price actually dropped temporarily. Under the large pressure of production cost, it was expected that module manufacturers will take measures if cell firms kept adjusting their prices. The prices have moved back up and the trend is up as quotes from tier-1 companies have increased and companies are quoting pricing in unison at higher levels. Regarding the market demand, thanks to the installation demand from overseas markets, the order levels of most domestic module manufacturers are stable. At the moment, the module inventories are being consumed and the demand in foreign markets like South Korea and Japan saw a notable improvement, which leads the price of module to remain firm for the short term. With upstream markets improving, the module market is also expected to have an uptrend in pricing.

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.