Shortage of polysilicon for mono-Si wafers lifts prices

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With the Energy Trend website yesterday reporting rumors the suppliers of polysilicon for mono-Si wafers had run out of stock, market research company PV Info Link today predicted prices for the product will rise next month.

Noting rising demand for the raw material for mono-Si wafers, PV Info Link said shortage of supply was likely to affect prices in the weeks ahead.

It was different story for polysilicon used in multicrystalline wafers according to the Taiwanese analysts, who said steady demand and an expansion in output from manufacturers had kept the price stable of late.

However PV Info Link noted manufacturers were not operating at full capacity in June and prices are likely to fall next month for polysilicon if producers continue to ramp up output.

Mono cell price dips

The price of mono cells fell slightly this week, according to the analysts, down RMB0.02/W to RMB 1.17-1.19/W in China and $0.155-0.157/W overseas and PV Info Link is predicting a slight surplus next month with manufacturers scheduled to continue expanding production capacities every month this year.

“However, such [a] price level is still too high for PERC module makers that are struggling to increase prices and therefore top-tier module makers will continue putting pressure on cell prices,” warned the market research company today.

The price of mono modules – which Bloomberg New Energy Finance reiterated today are expected to surpass polysilicon products in installation terms next year – will reduce slightly in the weeks ahead, according to PV Info Link, because the current solar boom being experienced in China and Vietnam is set to cool at the end of the month and there is expected to be a lag before anticipated European demand will pick up the slack.

In China’s case, the change represents the delay until a slew of ‘grid parity’ projects enter the development pipeline. Vietnam is rushing to permit a huge number of projects ahead of the expiration of a fixed solar FIT at the end of the month.

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