PV market demand yet to materialize, as price decline continues

TAIWAN: Though the uncertainties about the Italian policy change have been resolved, the end market demand has not materialized. As the wait-and-see attitude in the PV market remains, an obvious price decrease appeared once again. According to EnergyTrend’s survey, the spot price of polysilicon first dropped to under $70/kg, and the price pressure has shifted to polysilicon manufacturers.

On the other hand, the average spot price of solar cells also decreased below $1.0/Watt, which showed that the market demand is still low. Manufacturers indicated that the market visibility is so low that the price is not the most important determinant at this stage, and that the material procurement will depend on the amount of sales orders.

Furthermore, the price of polysilicon has decreased by 7.25% to 67.45/kg. EnergyTrend believes that under the circumstance of high polysilicon price, polysilicon manufacturers have to share their profits with clients. However, a huge price pressure of Si-wafer still remains, so the average price of multi-Si wafer has dropped by 7.09%, to $2.685/piece, and that of mono-Si wafer has fallen by 9.43 percent to $2.978/piece.Source: EnergyTrend, Taiwan.

Besides, the solar cell market spot price remains at $0.9/Watt with the lowest surveyed price dipping below $0.9/watt in the market. The average solar cell price has decreased by 5.34 percent to $0.957/Watt. Moreover, due to a weak demand in the module market, the average price has consistently decreased by 3.23 percent to $1.406/Watt. Finally, the average price of thin film has fallen by 5.3 percent to 1.09/Watt, affected by a continued decrease in the PV module price.

In terms of contract price, according to EnergyTrend’s survey, the gap between contract price and spot price of polysilicon has increased to $3.0/kg. Under the circumstance of a decreasing spot price, re-negotiation and longer lead time have occurred in the contract market.

Moreover, due to a decrease in the market spot price, the contract prices of wafer, cell, and module have been under pressure and follow the spot market price. The contract price of polysilcion has decreased by 3.11 percent to $64.375/kg; multi-Si wafer has fallen by 11.76 percent to $3.0/piece; solar cell has dropped by 9.74 percent to $1.056/Watt; and module has reduced by 7.17 percent to $1.502/Watt.