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Taiwanese cell shipments hit record high

A new report has found that shipments from Taiwan’s photovoltaic cell industry hit a record high in 2012. Overall, EnergyTrend found that the country's manufacturers shipped 5.5 GW of cells globally last year.

Neo Solar continues to be one of the key Taiwanese photovoltaic cell producers, in the most recent data.

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While parts of the solar manufacturing value chain remain under stress, Taiwan’s cell manufacturers have continued to increase their shipment volume. In the latest Q1 2013 database update from EnergyTrend, Taiwanese manufacturers have recorded record shipments for 2012.

Four key players, according to the EnergyTrend data, dominated the photovoltaic cell shipments. Motech, Gintech, Neo Solar Power and Solartech accounted for 67% of the shipment volume. Both Motech and Gintech shipped more than 1 GW of cells in the year, with firms such as Topcell, DelSolar and Tainergy each shipping around 300 - 350 MW.

In evidence of the fierce price competition caused by oversupply, while shipments were up between 5% – 25% across the Taiwanese cell producers, revenues were down 25% - 50%.

EnergyTrend forecasts Taiwan’s cell shipments to break records again in 2013, on the back of U.S. and European trade disputes with Chinese manufacturers and the booming photovoltaic market in Japan. Revenues are to remain roughly equal to the 2012 figures.

EnergyTrend is a research division of market research firm TrendForce.