Last week, the decrease of si-wafer prices has influenced the downstream PV cell manufacturers. However, because there are differences between the previous price trends of mono-si PV cell and multi-si PV cell, plus, their shipping markets are different, the decreases were not the same. The decrease of multi-si PV cell prices was greater because of the declining orders from China; yet, because mono-si PV cell prices of December have largely lowered and the orders from Japan increased after January, the decrease of mono-si PV cell prices was smaller.
Changes of prices in other sectors were stable. However, the exchange rate of the RMB to the US dollar has generally risen.
Polysilicon
Although the demand from end market after January was lower than December, owing to the lack of inventory for polysilicon, the price this week didn’t change much. The price of polysilicon used by multi-si wafer was RMB 147-154/kg, while the price of polysilicon used by mono-si wafer was RMB 153-158/kg.
Si-wafer
Because the major manufacturers of mono-si wafer and multi-si wafer reduced the prices last week, lots of si-wafer manufacturers lowered the prices as well this week, making the average price decline slightly. Diamond wire saw multi-si wafer price was RMB 4.5-4.65/pc and USD 0.635-0.65/pc in US dollars. In terms of mono-si wafer, the demand slightly grew and some manufacturers have decreased their prices last week. Therefore, the decline was smaller. The price of the first-tier manufacturers was RMB 5.2-5.4/pc. The price of the second-tier manufacturers was RMB 5.1-5.25/pc. Besides, the price in US dollars was USD 0.7/pc.
PV cell
Because of the decreasing prices of mono-si wafer and multi-si wafer last week, PV cell price this week started to show a general decline. Diamond wire saw multi-si PV cell price was RMB 1.64-1.68/W and USD 0.212-0.217/W in US dollars. However, China’s domestic demand turned weak and the main order came from overseas market, making the orders and sales of domestic demand-based middle- and small-manufacturers go down.
In terms of mono-si, because the supply was lower than last week and the demand slightly grew, the price remained stable this week. Mono-si PV cell price was RMB 1.66-1.69/W.
Module
Though Japan and India’s demands for module started to rise, China’s domestic demand was low, resulting in the differentiation in orders. China’s first-tier and second-tier manufacturers, which have the ability to export goods, had plenty of orders. Yet, for the manufacturers which focus on local market, their orders decreased significantly.
This week, the module price gradually declined. The 270-275W multi-si module price was RMB 2.68-2.76/W. The 280-285W mono-si module price was RMB 2.76-2.81/W. The 290-300W mono-si PERC module price was RMB 2.83-2.95/W.