China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) reported in late March that some domestic manufacturers of rolled PV glass had capped or scaled back output in February. This development was attributed to three factors. First, PV glass manufacturers had taken on too much new production capacity too quickly in the earlier period. Second, there had been a significant hike in fuel costs. Third, the market was in its off-season, so demand was relatively weak. On the whole, PV glass manufacturers were experiencing rising inventory and decreasing profitability. Consequently, some of them decided to limit output.
Citing data from China Architectural and Industrial Glass Association, MIIT said that as of the end of February, there were 36 PV glass manufacturers operating in China. Their monthly production at that time came to 949,000 metric tons in total, showing a year-on-year increase of 41%. Their average number of inventory days was 21.
Regarding prices of rolled PV glass in February, the average price of 2mm rolled PV glass came to RMB 20.2 per square meter, showing a year-on-year drop of 41.4%. The average price of 3.2mm rolled PV glass came to RMB 26.3 per square meter, showing a year-on-year drop of 38.4%.