L R AS Published on Sunday 29 January 2023 - n° 432 - Categories:Chinese company, industrial strategy
LONGi's capacity expansion plans are impressive
By the end of 2021, LONGi had a wafer capacity of 105 GW and a cell capacity of 37 GW. By the end of 2022, capacity had been increased to
150 MW in chips, 60 GW in cells and 85 GW in panels.
If the projects announced by LONGi in January 2023 are fully implemented, they will be the company's largest production expansion to date, which will impact the entire PV industry.
In the wafer segment, LONGi's rivals are TCL Zhonghuan, Gaojing and Shangji Automation, but the company also faces price controls from major upstream silicon manufacturers.
Last year, price competition between the upstream and downstream parts of the PV industry was fierce, with constant disputes over wafers.
Wafer prices fell sharply in the fourth quarter on rumours of destocking. It is true that there had been huge capacity expansions and competition between manufacturers intensified.
On 17 January, wafer prices from a major Chinese manufacturer rose sharply again; 182mm wafers went up to RMB 4.45 ($0.656) a piece, and 210mm wafers to RMB 5.8 a piece. The frequent and unexpected price fluctuations may have been manipulated by the major players.
For panels, although shipments of LONGi products have remained at the top of the rankings for the past two years, this year's shipments showed a decline in the number of shipments.This year's shipments revealed a smaller gap between the top four manufacturers, particularly for the top three, which were all above 40 GW. The gap has narrowed from a dozen gigawatts to just a few gigawatts. LONGi's advantage is shrinking.
https://www.pv-tech.org/inside-longis-latest-wafer-and-cell-manufacturing-expansion-plan/
PV Tech of 27 January 2023
