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Polysilicon

This week, the demand for multi and mono-grade polysilicon increased simultaneously. And the market price of polysilicon showed a slight rise. The market supply is tight at the moment, due to the equipment maintenance that have been implemented by polysilicon manufactures in 2020Q2. The polysilicon prices have increased slightly, due to the continued increase in demand from downstream wafer manufacturers and the fact that the orders for July have already been signed. The average price of multi polysilicon has been raised to RMB 38 /KG at the moment. And the average price of mono-grade polysilicon has been increased to RMB 57 /KG. The continuous expansion of wafer manufacturing capacity led by the 2 top wafer manufacturers has stimulated the steady growth of demand for polysilicon since the middle of the year. As the polysilicon manufacturers across the globe continue their facility maintenance, the upstream market will continue to maintain a precarious market equilibrium.

Wafers

Top-tier wafer manufacturers have announced the latest quoted prices for July. The quoted prices remained unchanged and the overall market prices were stabilized. As July arrived, most wafer manufacturers generally remained a high operating rate and were relatively aggressive in terms of procurement of the polysilicon, mainly due to the deadline extensions for some of the projects.
It is estimated that the increase in demand can continue for more than one to two weeks. Regarding the multi-Si wafers, judging from the recovering demand in the non-Chinese markets, the market is generally optimistic. The demand is set to surge, once an appropriate stimulant presents itself.

PV Cells

Compared with other segments, the PV cells have been relatively stable recently. The overall market prices demonstrated a flattened trend. The first-tier cell manufacturers announced the quoted prices in July, which remained unchanged. The orders for July were also signed. The cell prices remained in a relatively narrow range: G1 mono-Si cells ranged between RMB 0.79 and 0.8 /W, and M6 mono-Si cells ranged between RMB 0.8 and 0.82 /W.

It is noteworthy that the demand for M6 cells has surpassed their G1 counterparts starting from July, although the sale volume of M6 and G1 cells was roughly on the same level in May. Whether G1 will exit the market at the end of this year will be the next focus of the market observation.

Modules

Although various markets around the globe have shown signs of recovery, the module prices remained on its slightly downward trajectory, with no end in sight at the moment. China announced the 2020 photovoltaic auction projects of 25.97 GW at the end of June. The distributed PV projects that made it into the finalist round accounted for only 1.3% of the total. Meanwhile, judging from the recently announced tender plan, 166mm products will provide much more demand for modules in the second half of the year. There is also demand of the end market for the 180-210mm products. In the future, the purchase orders will be secured by mostly the first-tier manufactures, while the 2nd- and 3rd-tier manufacturers fight over the leftover. This polarization will become more and more evident.

Most of the first-tier manufacturers have finalized orders for July at the moment, whereas the sale volume of the second- and third-tier manufacturers was still unstable. Lately, there were delayed projects that supported the market demand. However, the prices continued to fall due to excess supply. The average price of the high-efficiency multi-Si (325W-330W) modules in both Chinese and non-Chinese markets was reduced to RMB 1.39 /W and US$0.188 /W. And the average price of the high-efficiency mono-Si (315-320W) modules in both Chinese and non-Chinese markets was reduced to RMB 1.53 /W and US$0.190 /W.