Polysilicon

The prices of polysilicon in all regional markets could not be stabilized and continued its downward trajectory this week. Due to the recovery in the market demand in China, the recent decline in the prices of polysilicon has narrowed. However, a wait-and-see sentiment was taking hold of the wafer companies due to the price reductions of major wafer manufacturers last week. The wafer companies were slow to place orders for polysilicon. To relieve the pressure on inventory, the polysilicon manufacturers with limited bargaining power tend to lower the price to make the sale. This move drove down the average price of China’s polysilicon for multi-usage, which was RMB 38/KG. It is expected that the prices of polysilicon will continue to decline.

Wafers

The 630-deadline has brought on a small rush of restocking. However, the overall supply chain still suffered from excess supply. The public was baffled about the decision of leading wafer manufacturers to continue their price reductions. The reason was simply to increase market share through price reductions, which could maintain their profitability. Judging from the fact that the end-of-month average contract price from major wafer manufacturers has been on the downward slide for 3 months in a row, the market demand was still weak. It is estimated that the prices of wafers will remain weak next week.

PV Cells

This week, the overall prices of PV cells barely maintained their stability. The average prices of superior-efficient mono-Si cells fell to US$0.1 /W in non-Chinese markets. Affected by wafer makers’ price downward revisions, the cells only managed to stop the price decline, even though cells were deemed as bullish and very likely to rise. The 630-deadline is slowly approaching. The European market and emerging markets are on their ways to recovery. However, the top-tier manufacturers also continue to expand their manufacturing capacity of high-efficiency cells. The market is expected to experience excess supply again. The prices of the cells may continue to be revised down.

Modules

Due to the ever-sinking bid prices of projects, the prices of modules continued to fall. This week, the big and small companies were facing very different markets. There was a distinct difference between the orders received for top-tier and B-list manufacturers. The industry leaders have a steady stream of orders, whereas the small and medium manufacturers were struggling in this regard. Plus, the price reductions of the upstream players did not help the matters, either. The overall quoted prices of small and medium businesses were weak with increasingly weak bargaining power.

(Analysis provided by Sharon Chen, analyst at EnergyTrend. Translated by Emma Hsu, translator of TrendForce Corp.)

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