PVinsights: As mono wafer prices drop, upstream rally hit the brakes

Polysilicon prices had a moderate decline this week. As polysilicon buyers have already prepared enough inventories for the installation raft in June, they had no immediate rush for procurement at this moment. Instead, they tend to take a defensive stance as they anticipated a price downturn in the near future. Suppliers have started to slightly lower the prices amid dimmer outlook in late June. Overseas market remained bearish due to limited utilization rates of downstream wafer suppliers. With low utilization rates, wafer producers did not show interest in further purchase and hesitate to procure considering current prices were too high.

Polysilicon prices had a moderate decline this week. As polysilicon buyers have already prepared enough inventories for the installation raft in June, they had no immediate rush for procurement at this moment. Instead, they tend to take a defensive stance as they anticipated a price downturn in the near future. Suppliers have started to slightly lower the prices amid dimmer outlook in late June. Overseas market remained bearish due to limited utilization rates of downstream wafer suppliers. With low utilization rates, wafer producers did not show interest in further purchase and hesitate to procure considering current prices were too high. The passiveness of buyers among overseas market dragged the overseas polysilicon prices. Overall, polysilicon price declined amid concerns over demand retreat in late June.


Multi-crystalline wafer prices remained immobile this week. As wafer buyers had mostly settled down orders in June, their attitude for procurement in later June has become more conservative. Although the supply of multi-crystalline wafer has seemed to be limited in current moment as some capacity were restrained by transition into diamond-wired saw, multi-crystalline wafer suppliers failed to prompt prices up further as buyers could not accept further price gain with multi-crystalline cell prices also hit the plateau. Moreover, as many suspects the market downturn may possibly recur in later June, wafer buyers tend to act with extra carefulness in placing orders in order to prevent potential losses. Hence, the rally of multi-crystalline wafer price ran out of steam as buyers took wait-and-see stances. On the other hand, mono-crystalline wafer prices faltered slightly with mounting speculation that top tier mono-crystalline wafer suppliers intend to reduce the prices this week. As leading mono-crystalline wafer suppliers has ramped up their productions, the ease of supply compounded with concerns over demand in late June has undermined suppliers confidence for price support. As the current price level of mono-crystalline wafer kept a widened gap with multi-ones, the downward correction of mono-crystalline prices is widely-perceived to be inevitable. With rising speculation of the price correction, some 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers acted ahead, leading prices to decline slightly this week. As the result, both prices of multi- and mono-crystalline wafer prices lost the upward momentum with lingering concerns over demand in late June. The initiation of mono-crystalline wafer price drop will probably trigger the domino effects across solar value chain.

Multi-crystalline cell prices hold steady this week. A plateau of the multi-crystalline cell prices has indicated the driving forces to prompt prices further has lost momentum with installation rush in China approaching the end phase. Solid demand and stable multi-crystalline wafer prices before mid-June were the reasons that sustain the prices, yet the weak fundamentals after June 30th are soon expected to take the toll of multi-crystalline cell prices probably in late June. In terms of mono-crystalline cell, the prices sap in step with the correction of mono-crystalline cell prices. Moreover, the demand of mono-crystalline cell products also seemed to decline as the buyers¡¦ appetite for procurement has reduced due to its high-priced level, particularly for mono-perc cells.

Overall multi- and mono-crystalline module prices were stable this week as sustained by weakening dollar. This week, solid panel prices in China resulted from solid demand for installation rush by June 30th have translated into a slight price uptick in USD term. In the U.S., the prices remained steady as the preventive procurement rush has not yet triggered ahead of Section 201 investigation. In Japan and EU, solar panel prices dipped slightly in regional dollar amid persistent competition, but with the aid of weakening dollar, the prices remained unchanged in USD term. In India and emerging countries, solar panel prices continued to deteriorate under intense competition. Overall, the solar panel prices hold still this week with price uptick in China balance off the price weakness in India and other emerging countries.

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