According to EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, the utilization rate of Taiwanese cell and wafer manufacturers remained high, while average product price and revenue both significantly increased compared with 4Q12. Taiwanese manufacturers are positive towards the Q2 market performance—they believe that they will continue to benefit from the double reverse policy. Therefore, along with the growing market, silicon wafer price may increase in April.
Related manufacturers indicated that Taiwanese cell manufacturers have started to make price inquiries since last week, which means that demands are still significant in the market. According to EnergyTrend, the total shipment of Taiwanese cell manufacturers in Q1 is approximately 1.5GW, and since market demands are still significant, they increased labor in order to boost shipment up to 1.65GW in Q2. Taiwanese cell manufacturers must therefore confirm the price of raw materials as well as the cost of production in order to set product price in April.
As for the supply chain, related manufacturers have all sustained a high utilization rate and some even maintained full productivity after the Chinese New Year. GCL’s monthly shipment is approximately 100 million (30 million were shipped to Taiwan), GET’s monthly shipment is 30 million, LDK also shipped 30 million high efficiency M3 products this month, and Gigastorage, Utech Solar, and Eversol all maintained a high utilization rate.
The current market is centered on high efficiency products; related manufacturers indicated that the tight capacity has resulted in insufficient supply and the continually increasing spot price. Taiwanese silicon wafer manufacturers have thus been able to raise product price.