Spot prices of polysilicon in China rose to RMB 120 (US$18.56) to RMB 125 per kilogram due to the slightly tight supply in the market, which caused by higher utilization rates of both mono-si wafer and multi-si wafer capacities. Spot prices in Taiwan also increased, reaching US$16 per kg.
Most manufacturers currently have little polysilicon available for immediate delivery and therefore have begun securing orders for April. As most prices have been settled, polysilicon prices in April are expected to remain stable, although prices of multi-si wafers and PV cells dropped in downstream supply chain.
Trading volume of multi-si wafer was small in the market because the PV cells’ price dropped more significant than multi-si wafers’. The relatively slight price decrease of multi-si wafers was from two factors: the price raise of polysilicon in upper stream and smaller capacity expansion scales than PV cells in downstream in this year. However, the price drop in multi-si wafers is forecast to deteriorate to reflect the large price cut in the PV cells segment.
In terms of mono-si wafers, the hot demand continued to set up for a price hike. The recent prices of mono-si wafers in China were reported at between RMB 6.7 and RMB 6.8/piece, while the prices in Taiwan ranged between US$0.92 and US$0.93/piece. However, Corrine Lin, Assistant Research Manager at EnergyTrend, believed prices of mono-si wafers have peaked this year, particularly at a time when the price upward of multi-si wafers are restricted.
In PV cell markets in China and Taiwan, as orders were limited to a small number of manufacturers, vertically-integrated makers in the downstream slashed prices to lead to the largest price drop in Taiwan in recent years, at between US$0.315 and US$0.318/ W. Some larger manufacturers have lowered their utilization rates to around 8%0. In addition, China’s domestic demand apparently slowed down, forcing makers to re-focus their shipment to overseas. India, where demand remains stable, has become one of the major markets for the PV cell manufacturers. Prices of high-efficiency PV cells in China remained at around RMB 2.4/W, while some second-tier manufacturers continued to lower their prices.
Top-tier PV module manufacturers maintained their prices at between RMB 3.8 and RMB 3.9/W for multi-si modules, while second-tier makers began to lower their prices to between RMB 3.65 and RMB 3.8/W due to the lack of big orders. Nonetheless, as the overall market demand cools down, average prices are expected to slowly decrease.
