Asian polysilicon market advances into winter

Business News Agency September 21 Market participants recently pointed out that as the debt crisis in Europe intensifies and the industry’s concern about the US economy’s second recession has intensified, the current solar market is very different from the hot scene in 2010, and the spot price of polysilicon in Asia has fallen as a whole. Buyers postponed purchases, producers and sellers suffered dismal operations, and the market had already entered winter.

According to ICIS data, as of the week of September 7, spot prices of Asian polysilicon fell by US$3/kg to US$47-52/kg (FOB, Northeast Asia), while China’s shipment prices fell by 10,000 to 20,000 yuan/ton. (1563 to 3125 US dollars / ton), dropped to 370,000 to 400,000 yuan / ton. The price of 156mm x 156mm solar polysilicon has dropped from 2.05 to 2.35 US dollars per piece four weeks ago to the current 1.90 to 2.10 US dollars per piece. The abundant supply of the entire photovoltaic industry chain also increased the downward pressure on polysilicon spot prices.

An industry source said that the current polysilicon inventory, the market price pressure, from a large level, the European debt crisis has affected the solar energy projects. In the Chinese market, buyers are delaying the purchase of polysilicon goods. In order to attract buyers, sellers have changed payment terms. The buyer can pay the manufacturer in installments instead of the previous pay-as-you-go payment method. Most polysilicon producers in Asia expect this distressed situation to maintain until the beginning of next year, especially as China National Day holiday approaching, demand will further weaken, and in the winter, solar roof installation will also be reduced.

A recent report released by the EU Joint Research Center shows that since 2000, the annual global PV module output growth has been between 40% and 90%. The solar energy industry has been the second largest investment area in the renewable energy field after wind power for the third consecutive year. The report predicts that the investment in the photovoltaic industry will increase from 35 to 40 billion euros in 2010 to more than 70 billion euros in 2015, at the same time, product prices will decline.

Although the solar market may be gloomy, most polysilicon producers continue to expand. Daxin Brand New Energy Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Daquan Group, said recently that the company plans to expand its polysilicon production capacity by more than 100% and that its production capacity will reach 9,000 tons/year by the third quarter of 2012. The company's current polysilicon plant in Wanzhou, Chongqing, has a capacity of 4,300 tons per year. The plant expansion will begin in October this year and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012 with a total investment of US$135 million. China Power Investment Mengdong Energy Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), has obtained approval from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government to build a new 6,000-ton/year polysilicon project in Tongliao City. In addition, the Chinese government also approved the company's construction of a 800 MW/year solar-grade silicon steel sheet project in Tongliao, which is expected to start this year.