Polysilicon prices declined more than 20% on Wednesday, leaving them on track for the biggest weekly fall in a decade, as record-high China stockpiles intensified worries that Chinese suppliers' plans to expand capacity will enhance massive supplies already in the market. In particular, mono-grade polysilicon prices headed sharply lower this week, logging two-year lows and marking their entry into a bear market, as worries about a slowdown in polysilicon demand persist on the back of the rising downstream stockpiles. In the meantime, major mono-grade polysilicon buyers regained stronger bargaining powers than suppliers amid the rising supply and the declining demand to take more price discounts on mono-grade polysilicon.

Polysilicon prices declined more than 20% on Wednesday, leaving them on track for the biggest weekly fall in a decade, as record-high China stockpiles intensified worries that Chinese suppliers' plans to expand capacity will enhance massive supplies already in the market. In particular, mono-grade polysilicon prices headed sharply lower this week, logging two-year lows and marking their entry into a bear market, as worries about a slowdown in polysilicon demand persist on the back of the rising downstream stockpiles. In the meantime, major mono-grade polysilicon buyers regained stronger bargaining powers than suppliers amid the rising supply and the declining demand to take more price discounts on mono-grade polysilicon.

Mono-crystalline wafer prices settled Wednesday near their lowest level in history, as the prospect of overcapacity and an expected demand slowdown renewed worries that supplies of mono-crystalline wafers will continue to outpace consumption, leading to a rising inventory. The weakening outlook for mono-crystalline wafers, coupled with inventory dumping by Chinese suppliers and softer-than-expected demand, convinced most players the market is moving into an oversupply.

Mono-crystalline PERC cell prices plummeted amid the declining demand this week, as giant buyers had less willing to purchase mono-crystalline PERC cells, even though major Chinese solar cell suppliers still intended to slow price reductions. All solar cell buyers stood on firm footing not to accept the current offering prices of mono-crystalline PERC cells after the notable correction of upstream wafer prices led them to lower the purchasing prices. Furthermore, due to bin-busting supplies and weak demand, China solar cell producers increasingly witnessed supply dumping into markets

Mono-crystalline PERC module prices dropped more severely amid the upstream price reductions and the increasing inventories this week although major Chinese solar panel module makers had production constraints due to the domestic COVID spread. In China, the demand growth was weaker-than-expected, pushing all Chinese suppliers to expand their market exposures outside of China, particularly in emerging countries. Moreover, Chinese solar module makers turned increasingly bearish on domestic demand in 1Q23 as signs of demand stress persisted after the Chinese utility solar project developers indicated not to kick off their solar panel purchasing any time soon.