The Price of Photovoltaic Glass has Risen to a High Level this Year

The price of photovoltaic glass continued to rise this week, and the price returned to the high level of the year. The mainstream price of glass with a thickness of 3.2mm rose to 3.873 USD /㎡, a weekly increase of 5.66%; the mainstream price of glass with a thickness of 2.0mm rose to about 2.974 USD /㎡, a weekly increase of 7.5%. Recently, with the increase in the operating rate of modules, the inventory of photovoltaic glass has slowed down, and the prices of superimposed raw materials such as natural gas and soda ash have risen, and the bargaining power of glass has gradually increased.

Affected by factors such as new products on the supply side, the price and profit margin of photovoltaic glass in the first three quarters of 2022 will remain at the bottom. Since October, the marginal supply and demand of photovoltaic glass has been repaired. As of the end of last week, the number of days in which photovoltaic glass manufacturers had inventory was about 19.44 days, a week-on-week decrease of 1.1 days or 5.46%.

Minsheng Securities released a research report saying that the price increase was driven by both demand and cost factors, and glass companies, under the background of module emissions, have made strong price increases to transmit cost increases. In the third quarter, the industry's supply and demand were relatively loose, resulting in a decline in the average selling price of photovoltaic glass. At the same time, the cost of raw materials and energy rose sharply, which compressed the profit margin and put pressure on the industry's profitability in the third quarter. After entering the fourth quarter, on the one hand, with the increase in demand for glass due to downstream component production and centralized power station output, the shipments of leading manufacturers are expected to increase rapidly. On the other hand, the supply and demand pattern of the industry is expected to improve, and glass companies can effectively adjust prices to transmit cost increases and drive profitability improvements. Profits bottomed out in the third quarter, and glass head companies are expected to see a rise in volume and profit in the fourth quarter.