L R AS Published on Saturday 2 September 2023 - n° 455 - Categories:Chinese company, cells
The top five cell manufacturers at the end of the first half-year
The top five cell manufacturers remain the same at the end ofH1 2023. Together, they shipped 84 GW of cells in the first half, an increase of
49% compared with the same period last year, and will account for 72% of their annual shipments in 2022.
By early 2023, most PERC lines have completed transition and debugging, which doubled with PERC cell supply in the first half. PERC cell shipments reached 73 GW in thefirst half. The volume of TOPCon cells reached 10.5 GW. Shipments from the top five manufacturers increased significantly despite higher self-consumption rates.
Shipment volumes of HJT cells and rear-contact cells were minor, as they were mainly intended for self-consumption.
M10 and G12 cells dominated the first five shipments, with the former accounting for 75% and the latter 21% of the total volume. The share of M6 and smaller cells fell rapidly to around 4% of the top five shipments, mainly supplying foreign markets.
At the start of this year, lower prices in the upstream sectors led to a fall in cell prices. However, the mismatch between supply and demand for M10 and G12 cells, as well as N- and P-type cells, led to higher prices. This is enabling profits to recover gradually, with consumer products generating over 30% of gross margin by mid-year.
With most of TOPCon's expansion projects starting up in the third and fourth quarters, TOPCon's nameplate capacity could reach 700 GW, bringing total capacity to almost 1,200 GW, including existing PERC capacity of 500 GW. This huge capacity will reshape the cellular sector. As manufacturers bring TOPCon capacity online at a faster pace in the second half of the year, competition will intensify towards the end of the year. As well as competition for capacity, the price war will also have an impact on cell manufacturers' profits.
InfoLink 29 August 2023
Editor's note There is a big difference between the panel delivery volumes of the main manufacturers and the cell shipments of the top five. This is due to the internal production of cells by the major manufacturers. This part of production does not appear in the exchanges, whereas the cell manufacturers sell their production on the market.
