Hanwha Q CELLS Co., Ltd. (HQCL) recorded 297.32MW of deliveries during the fourth quarter 2014, as captured by the Chinese Export Data Report (CEDR). Based on the report, 73% of the exported volume from China went to Asia, with Japan receiving 154.77MW of the volume, or 53% of the total deliveries for the quarter. The second-largest destination was USA, with 57MW or 19% of volume. South Korea was the third-largest destination for the company with 46MW.
Fourth-quarter volume grew 6% year over year and 23% sequentially. During the third quarter, CEDR captured 242.2MW delivered by Hanwha Q CELLS, showing Japan as the dominant destination with 147.5MW.
Based on the company’s reporting for the third quarter 2014, still as Hanwha SolarOne, the company recognized 373.2MW for revenue purposes. The company also explained that 30% of module revenue was generated in China, and the volume to the Mainland was almost one-third of the total or 123.4MW. As a result, an estimate of exports would be 249.8MW, in comparison to 242.2MW captured by CEDR. In greater detail, volume to Japan recognized as revenue was 43% of the total, or 160MW, and the second-largest export destination was South Korea with 8% or 29.85MW. CEDR produced 148MW for Japan and 29.37MW for South Korea. The company reported average selling prices for its modules at $0.61 per watt, which corresponded precisely with the global average declared price from CEDR.
For the fourth quarter 2014, GADP estimate is around $0.58 per watt, or 5% lower than Q3. COGS for Q3 were at $0.57 per watt, and expectations for Q4 to be in a similar range, leaning to drop to $0.56 per watt. At a gross margin estimate of $0.02 per watt, the company is expected to have low gross margin and despite the sequential increase in module shipments, no significant increase in gross profit, leading to operating loss and the net loss.
The reporting combination of Hanwha Q CELLS and SolarOne should take place during second-quarter 2015 reporting. At the price of $2 per share, the company’s market capitalization is $1.6B – second only to Canadian Solar and greater in value than JinkoSolar and JA Solar combined.
