Chinese PV Industry Brief: Shangji Automation expands polysilicon capacity by 100,000 MT

Wuxi-based monocrystalline silicon products manufacturer Wuxi Shangji Automation Co Ltd. announced it plans to invest RMB11.8 billion ($1.67 billion) in expanding its manufacturing capacity for polysilicon by 100,000 MT and its capacity for silicon metal by another 150,000 MT. The new production site will be located in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. The plan will be implemented in two phases. At the end of 2021, Shangji Automation had a monocrystalline wafer capacity of 30 GW. Besides this investment, Shangji jointly invested in granular silicon production with GCL-Poly with a capacity of 300,000 MT, with Shangji taking a 35% share in that project.

Solar manufacturer Longi has raised the prices of all its PV wafers via an update on the company website. G1 products, measuring 158.75-223 mm, now cost RMB5.25 (US$0.83) per piece, up 1.94%, and 166 mm M6 wafers are 1.87% more expensive, at RMB5.45 (US$0.86). The price of M10, 182-247 mm wafers was raised 1.8% to RMB6.38 per piece (US$1.01). Longi began raising its wafer prices in January after two months of downwards trend.

Wang Bohua, chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA), said that the Chinese PV market may grow by between 75 and 90 GW this year, with a significant increase of 36.7% to 64% over 2021. According to Wang, China will install between 83 and 99 GW on average from 2022 to 2025. He also stated that the Chinese polysilicon industry produced 505,000 metric tons of raw material last year, up 28.8% from the previous year. China also manufactured last year 227 GW of wafers (up 40.7%), 198 GW of solar cells (up 46.9%), and 189 GW of modules, up 46.1%

The TBEA Xinjiang New Energy unit of TBEA-owned polysilicon maker and solar developer Xinte New Energy said on Wednesday it had paid RMB75.5 million (US$11.9 million) in an auction to acquire the Xuyi High Drive renewables project business, which in May agreed to pay it almost RMB899 million (US$142 million) to settle a dispute over a delayed wind farm that had rumbled since May 2020. Xinte said the Xuyi High Drive business owned by Jiangsu High Drive was auctioned off by the Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing because of a separate debt issue, and had been valued at RMB108 million (US$17 million). The auction price will be offset from the monies owed to Xinte Energy, with the poly maker saying TBEA Xinjiang New Energy has now recovered RMB147 million (US$23.3 million) of the sum it is entitled to.