PVinsights: Price deterioration of solar components spilling over the supply chain

Polysilicon price extend the drop this week as the wait-and-see attitude of buyers and the dollar strengthen. As Chinese polysilicon suppliers have lowered price quote noticeably last week and the downstream demand remain sluggish, polysilicon buyers become more cautious in polysilicon procurements. As buyers sentiment weakens, the inventory level have witnessed noticeable rise, with some accumulating 2-3 weeks extra inventories, according to our supply chain check. Moreover, as the greenback strengthens recently, polysilicon price in China is further deteriorated in USD term. On the other hand, polysilicon prices outside of China are also being pressured as constrained by the price decline in Chinese market. Moreover, as the leading wafer manufacturer turns more bearish regarding the outlook of the demand, the weakening wafer prices also cause the polysilicon to perform poorly as well.

Polysilicon price extend the drop this week as the wait-and-see attitude of buyers and the dollar strengthen. As Chinese polysilicon suppliers have lowered price quote noticeably last week and the downstream demand remain sluggish, polysilicon buyers become more cautious in polysilicon procurements. As buyers sentiment weakens, the inventory level have witnessed noticeable rise, with some accumulating 2-3 weeks extra inventories, according to our supply chain check. Moreover, as the greenback strengthens recently, polysilicon price in China is further deteriorated in USD term. On the other hand, polysilicon prices outside of China are also being pressured as constrained by the price decline in Chinese market. Moreover, as the leading wafer manufacturer turns more bearish regarding the outlook of the demand, the weakening wafer prices also cause the polysilicon to perform poorly as well.


Multi-crystalline wafer price continues the plummet this week amid the sluggish demand. Following the 1st tier multi-crystalline wafer suppliers lower price quotes last week, the 2nd and 3rd tier manufacturers have to adopt more aggressive pricing strategies in order to secure the orders. Therefore, multi-crystalline price correction has enlarged as the competition among suppliers intensifies. Meanwhile, the drastic price correction of multi-crystalline wafer has leaded the price difference between multi- and mono-crystalline wafers to expand. With the expanded price gap, the demand of mono-crystalline wafer starts to falter and some of the major mono-crystalline wafer makers are forced to adjust prices lower in order to keep the demand. Hence, even though the demand of mono-crystalline wafer remains solid, the expanded price difference with multi-wafer eventually cripples the price of mono-crystalline wafer.

Amid the lackluster demand outlook and unclear order visibility, multi-crystalline cell price remain on a gradual descent consecutively. Although the price competition among multi-crystalline cell makers has slowed, the sluggish demand in China still pressurizes multi-crystalline cell prices. Even though some solar cell makers strategically shift parts of the production to mono-crystalline cell, the overall production utilization rates of multi-crystalline cells still remain high. Hence, with the sluggish demand, more solar cell makers are accumulating stockpiles, which also contribute to the price decline as well. On the other hand, mono-crystalline cell extend the price slump this week. Amid the outstanding price difference between mono and multi-crystalline cells and slumped mono-crystalline module prices, mono-crystalline cell suppliers need to offer further price reductions on mono-crystalline cells in order to maintain its market shares. Moreover, since more solar cell makers increase supply in mono-crystalline cells, the price is further pressured as demand remain dimmed. Hence, mono-crystalline cell price remain pressurized due to swelled supply and expanded price gap.

Solar panels extend the long streak of price decline this week. In China, despite the announcement of installation target for the year recently, solar panel price continues to slump as suppliers aim to digest the piled-up inventories before the fiscal quarter end. Moreover, due to the depreciation of RMB recently, the solar panel price in China also translates into a drop in USD term. The solar panel price in the US remain pressured as more Chinese players intend to increase to dominant this highly profitable market through intense price competition via their increasing trade-friend capacities. Similarly, the fierce price competition is also happening in India as many local and foreign module makers strive to win the booming local solar projects, leading the solar panel price in India continues to slump. On the other hand, in Japan, the strong Yen has helped to sustain the solar panel price to fall less sharply. Therefore, the overall solar panel price falls in response to the escalated price competitions and the exchange rates.

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