L R AS Published on Sunday 4 February 2024 - n° 474 - Categories:the prices
Wafer manufacturers attempt a price hike before the holidays, after the silicon hike
Wafer manufacturers attempt to raise prices before the holidays, following a slight rise in the price of silicon
Silicon:
Silicon production and delivery were stable ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Prices rose for Chinese silicon, while remaining stable for non-Chinese silicon. N-type silicon saw prices rise by up to
65-73 RMB, with some peaks at 69-73 RMB/kg. The rise varies from one manufacturer to another. The rise also reflects considerable demand from ingot producers, as manufacturers keep their utilisation rates unchanged or higher. The market is showing signs of pre-holiday stockpiling and persistent confrontation between buyers and sellers.
Wafers :
After weeks of low prices, manufacturers traded P-type M10 cells at the higher prices they had offered last week due to tight supplies amid a timely transition to N-type production. Only a few have settled at prices below RMB 2.05/piece. Attempts by some manufacturers to increase N-type prices failed as market acceptance remained low.
Trading prices have reached RMB2.05/piece for M10 type P wafers, and are at RMB2.8/piece for G12 wafers. Prices for N-type wafers were 2 RMB/piece and 3.1 RMB/piece for M10 and G12 formats respectively. So the price of N-type wafers was lower than that of P-type wafers! Prices were officially reversed this week.
For the time being, insert manufacturers are hoping to maintain their utilisation rates and have no intention of cutting back on production during the holidays.
Cells :
The supply of high-efficiency PERC cells appeared to be limited as the number of PERC cell manufacturers is shrinking rapidly. As there are fewer manufacturers, they have tried to increase their prices. P-type cell prices held steady at 0.38 RMB/W for M10 and G12 cells. Some suppliers increased their prices to 0.39 RMB/W.
Current prices for M10 N cells were relatively stable, averaging between 0.46 and 0.47 RMB/W. The price differential between TOPCon and PERC cells stabilised at 0.08-0.09 RMB/W. G12 HJT cells, mainly for internal use, saw their prices vary considerably on external sales, at 0.6-0.7 RMB/W for high-efficiency cells.
Manufacturers are planning to reduce production over the Lunar New Year holiday. Some will improve their PERC production capacity, while others will expand TOPCon production lines or increase yields with LEOC or other processes.
Prices will remain stable in the short term. Increases are possible if production cuts exceed expectations.
Panels :
Manufacturers are mainly managing large orders this week, due to costs, reduced deliveries and the recent drop in the number of new projects. Average prices have stabilised for the time being, at between 0.88 and 0.9 RMB/W for PERC panels and between 0.93 and 0.96 RMB/W for TOPCon panels.
The price of HJT panels has risen to RMB/W 1.15-1.2 in China. In markets outside China, prices fell slightly to $0.145-0.170/W due to recent deliveries.
Some price discussions were held for the period after the holidays. These discussions have taken place in the context of the continuing decline in long-term prices.
Outside China, short-term demand for 182mm PERC panels is strengthening at the end of the product cycle. Some manufacturers want to take advantage of this and will raise prices after the holidays. A marginal increase of $0.01 to $0.02/W is likely.
https://www.infolink-group.com/energy-article/pv-spot-price-20240131
InfoLink of 31 January 2024
