This week the multi-si supply chain was considered weaker than that of mono-si. However, market demand still existed for multi-si products. Upstream polysilicon's price in the domestic market of mainland China kept on falling slightly because overseas manufacturers continued selling polysilicon with low prices, so as to consume inventories. Regarding si wafer, the stable balance of supply and demand helped price remain stable. Speaking of PV cell and modules, prices of individual segments rose because of demand. For the rest of PV cell and modules, most of their prices stayed flat.
For the upcoming holidays of Chinese New Year, suppliers will use the time to adjust capacity distribution. This move might help price stably rise.
Polysilicon
This week polysilicon's transactions were the execution of past orders. Even though there were spot deals, these deals were small quantities and their momentum was not concentrated. The two types of prices weren't impressive for two main reasons. First, the new production lines' capacities have steadily ramped up, but old production lines' capacities have not completely phased out. Thus, product prices are expected to fall in the future. Second, overseas manufacturers lowered their product prices, in order to consume inventories. Therefore, domestic prices in China slowly dropped.
When it comes to capacity modification, most of manufacturers already planned to continuously halt production and conduct inspection and maintenance after Chinese New Year Holidays. This wave of production pause is expected to last from March and beyond. Currently, Chinese domestic polysilicon price has dropped to 70~73 RMB/KG. The average price of polysilicon there has decreased to 72 RMB/KG. Mono-silicon price in China has been reduced to 78~80 RMB/KG, and its average price has been decreased to 79 RMB/KG. Overseas polysilicon price remained the same, ranging from 8.20 to 9.50 USD/KG.
Silicon Wafer
This week, for si wafer, mono-si wafer supply chain has stayed stronger than that of multi-si wafer. There were a mix of ups and downs in terms of demand for the si wafer segment. On the one hand, Indian and emerging markets' demand still existed for multi-si wafer that is manufactured in mainland China. In addition, before Chinese New Year Holidays, currently multi-si wafer price still hasn't dropped. On the other hand, multi-si demand of domestic market in China indeed was worse this week than that in December 2018. Rumors had that some multi-si wafer foundries might reduce their capacity after Chinese New Year Holidays.
For now, domestic price of mono-si wafer in mainland China has stayed at 3.05~3.10RMB/Pc. Multi-si wafer price has remained at 2.05~2.20RMB/Pc. Black silicon wafer price has been kept at 2.25RMB/Pc. As for international markets, prices of mono-si wafer and multi-si wafer have stayed the same. Mono-si wafer price has been at 0.380~0.390USD/Pc. Multi-si wafer price has been 0.258~0.280USD/Pc. Black silicon products' price has stayed the same as 0.305USD/Pc.
PV cells
This week PV cell demand remained strong for 2 reasons. First, in China, even though part of installation progress for Top Runner Program was delayed and these manufacturers missed the governmental schedule of December 2018, high efficiency mono-si products' production utilization rate remained fully-loaded and there were supply shortage. In view of multi-si PV cells, because a few manufacturers converted their production lines to make mono-si PV cells, mono-si PV cells' total supply became intensified. In the future, the supply adjustment will determine the price trend.
For now, general multi-si PV cell price in domestic market of China has stayed at 0.81~0.88RMB/W. General mono-si PV cell price has slightly risen to 1.01~1.08RMB/W, and its average price has grown to 1.05RMB/W. High efficiency mono-si PV cell's price has remained at 1.20~1.25RMB/W, and its average price has increased to 1.23RMB/W. Ultra-high efficiency mono-si (>21.5%) PV cell price has grown to 1.22~1.33RMB/W, and its average price has risen to 1.30RMB/W.
For overseas markets, general multi-si PV cell price grew to 0.109~0.137USD/W, and its average price rose to 0.112USD/W. General mono-si PV cell price moved up to 0.145~0.160USD/W, and its average price was increased to 0.155USD/W. High-efficiency mono-si PV cell price stayed at 0.160~0.173USD/W. Ultra-high efficiency mono-si (>21.5%) PV cell grew to 0.172~0.175USD/W, and its average price rose to 0.175USD/W. Bifacial PV cell prices rose to 1.36RMB/W.
Modules
This week, the demand of modules was a mix of ups and downs. The demand in mainland China slowed down but overseas demand kept on rising. In China's end-market, the residual demand of Top Runner Program was being fulfilled. The industry in China is getting ready for Chinese New Year Holidays. Therefore, module demand steadily slowed down. In regard to overseas markets, in some regions, there were still continuous installations and deliveries. In other words, the supply and demand in overseas markets were considered stable.
For now, general multi-si (270W~275W) module price in the domestic market of China has stayed at 1.80~1.85RMB/W, and high-efficiency multi-si (280~285W) module price has remained at 1.83~1.93RMB/W. General mono-si (290~295W) module price has been kept at 1.83~1.96RMB/W, and its average price has risen to 1.92RMB/W. Regarding high-efficiency mono-si (300~305W) module price has grown to 2.15~2.30RMB/W, and its average price has risen to 2.25RMB/W. Ultra-high efficiency mono-si (>310W) module price has been kept above 2.25RMB/W.
International markets' general multi-si module prices were stayed at 0.207~0.265USD/W, and its average price slightly rose to 0.214USD/W. High-efficiency multi-si module price remained at 0.212~0.275USD/W. General mono-si module prices stayed at 0.247~0.360USD/W. High-efficiency mono-si module price remained at 0.265~0.380USD/W, and its average price slightly rose to 0.277USD/W.