The Global Polysilicon Marker (GPM), OPIS’ assessment for polysilicon produced outside of China, fell 1.33% week on week to a six-week low of $37.218/kg on April 18 (see chart). Market sentiment for the raw material turned more subdued in recent weeks, ahead of new capacity additions.
China’s new polysilicon manufacturers are expected to add a total of 150 GW of polysilicon output during the third and fourth quarter of the year, the impact of which industry players said would inevitably spill over into international markets. The price of mono-grade polysilicon in China has already fallen for eight consecutive weeks, reaching an 11-week low of CNY 189.93 ($27.58)/kg on April 18 (see chart), according to OPIS data.
Free On Board (FOB) China wafer prices, meanwhile, continued to largely trade sideways, with Mono M10 eking out a 0.12% on-week gain to $0.831/pc. G12 remained unchanged on-week at $1.041/pc on April 18.
Low inventories coupled with tightness in high-purity quartz (HPQ), which is used to make expendable crucibles critical to the wafer manufacturing process, have buffered the wafer sector against weakness in the upstream polysilicon market.
The recent arrival of HPQ imports in China should help to ease some of the manufacturing bottlenecks, but any resulting respite would be unevenly distributed, as most of the imports were bought by the few major wafer makers, sources have said.
OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides energy prices, news, data and analysis on gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG/NGL, coal, metals, and chemicals as well as renewable fuels and environmental commodities. It acquired pricing data assets from Singapore Solar Exchange in 2022 and now publishes the OPIS APAC Solar Weekly Report.
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