Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi, Zhonghuan raise wafer prices

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Longi raised the price of its M10 (182 mm /247 mm) wafers by 0.6% to CNY 6.86 ($1.04) per piece. M6 (166 mm/223 mm) wafers are now 3.06% more expensive at CNY 5.72 per unit. G1 (158.75 mm/223 mm) products can be bought for CNY 5.52 each, about 3.16% higher than the previous rate.

Zhonghuan Semiconductor has raised the price of 218.2 mm wafers by 1.1% to CNY 9.88 each. G12 (210 mm) wafers sell for CNY 9.15 each, while M10 (182 mm) wafers are now being sold for CNY 6.87 per unit, up CNY 0.08. M6 (166 mm) wafers registered the lowest increase of CNY 0.06, hitting CNY 5.7 per piece.

The China Nonferrous Metals Association (CNMA) has reported that the price of polysilicon rose to between CNY 252 and CNY 260 per kilogram this week. China’s strict pandemic measures have reportedly affected the supply chain, prompting some polysilicon makers to turn off their production lines. Some expansion plans have been postponed due to a lack of equipment, logistical barriers, and inspection delays for import polysilicon. The CNMA also pointed to insufficient polysilicon supplies. It said supplies will grow to 68,000 to 72,000 metric tons in May, which will still be short of industry needs, resulting in another round of price increases for polysilicon.

Golden Solar said in its annual earnings report this week that it generated CNY 44.8 million of its total 2021 revenue of CNY 314 million from its new cast-mono wafer business. “The group successfully transformed from a traditional manufacturer to a renewable energy technology company in 2021,” it said, noting that it plans to launch cast-mono cell production and heterojunction module output as the next stage of its transformation.

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China Power said this week that it sold 1.8 TWh of solar-generated electricity in the first quarter, up 38% on the figure posted a year earlier, with an additional 22.8 GWh sold by plants associated with the power company. The respective figures for coal-fired power were 16.6 TWh plus 6.32 TWh.

Beijing Energy International has announced plans to set up a joint venture with Singapore’s Sembcorp Energy Investment to promote solar plants, energy storage facilities, and wind farms in China. Beijing Energy did not say how much would be invested in the Beijing Energy Sembcorp (Hainan) Renewables venture, but noted that it would hold a 51% stake, with Sembcorp taking the remainder.

GCL Technology has said that rising polysilicon and wafer selling prices helped turn around its business fortunes in 2021. Shareholders of the former GCL-Poly had to swallow a net loss of CNY 5.67 billion during a Covid-ravaged 2020 that also saw the manufacturer mothball wafer production. However, the average price of rod polysilicon rose from CNY 60.70/kg to CNY 147.30 in 2021. GCL Tech's investors saw a CNY 5.08 billion net profit last year, according to the company’s newly published annual report.

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