Fall 20% a Week! The Price of Silicon Wafers Shows a Cliff-like Decline

On December 21, the latest data of the China Nonferrous Metal Industry Association Silicon Industry Branch showed that the price of silicon wafers this week showed a fused decline. Among them, the price of M10 single crystal silicon wafer (182mm/150μm) fell 20%month-on-month, while the price of G12 single crystal silicon wafer (210mm/150μm) also reached 18.4%month-on-month.

Data from the Silicon Industry Branch show that the price range of M6 monocrystalline silicon wafers (166mm/155 μm) is 0.715-0.73 USD/piece, the average transaction price is reduced to 0.727 USD/piece, and the weekly decrease is 15.2%. The price range of M10 single crystal silicon wafer (182 mm/150 μm) is 0.77-0.787 USD/piece, the average transaction price drops to 0.774 USD/piece, and the weekly decline is 20%. The price range of G12 single crystal silicon wafers (210 mm/150 μm) is 1.02-1.07 USD/piece, the average transaction price drops to 1.04 USD/piece, and the weekly decrease is 18.4%.

The industry analysis believes that the reason why the silicon wafer link has fallen sharply, on the one hand,  the price of upstream silicon material has fallen in the near future. On the other hand, it is related to the low operating rate of silicon bar manufacturers and the concentrated on selling inventory at the end of the year.

The Silicon Industry Branch said that the decline this week includes the price reduction of the previous two weeks and the root cause is that the price of silicon material is reduced. The price of silicon material first stepped on the brake on November 24. According to Pvinfolink data, on November 24, the price of polysilicon fell by 0.3%year-on-year. On December 1, the decline reached 2.3%. From December 8th, the decline was slightly expanded to 2.4%, and on December 15th, on the basis of all the previous basis, the price decline of polysilicon has reached 3.8%, which is very obvious.

It is understood that the operating rate of two first-line companies this week has decreased to 80%and 85%. The operating rate of integrated enterprises was maintained between 70%-80%, and the operating rate of other companies dropped to 60%-70%.

The price of silicon wafers is reduced, and the downstream solar cell section naturally becomes the most direct beneficiary. According to CITIC Futures calculation, the price of PERC silicon wafers decreased by 10% and  the cost of solar cells decreased by 8.19%.Besides, the price of HJT silicon wafers decreased by 10% and the cost of solar cells decreased by 7.17%.