Silicon Industry Sub-Association: New polycrystalline silicon production capacity is entering the market gradually and silicon material prices are experiencing normal fluctuations.

On March 6th, the Silicon Industry Branch released a weekly review of polycrystalline silicon. The price of n-type rod silicon was basically stable this week, with a transaction range of 7,10-7,30 yuan/ton, and an average transaction price of 7,21 yuan/ton, unchanged from the previous week. The price of monocrystalline dense material slightly decreased, with a transaction range of 5,50-6,40 yuan/ton, and an average transaction price of 6,04 yuan/ton, a decrease of 0.49% compared to the previous week. The price of n-type granular silicon increased, with a transaction range of 6,10-6,40 yuan/ton, and an average transaction price of 6,20 yuan/ton, an increase of 1.64% compared to the previous week. This week, there were 5 new companies that had transactions for n-type silicon material, and 7 new companies for p-type silicon material. This week, there were a lot of new orders from companies, with a wide variety of products, leading to price changes for different types of silicon materials. However, the market transaction volume was limited, and downstream silicon wafer companies were more cautious in placing orders. The price of n-type silicon material remained stable, with only two major factories signing more orders, and new order prices remain unchanged. Due to increasing caution from downstream companies in signing orders for n-type silicon material, there were no widespread transactions recently. The slight decrease in the price of p-type silicon material was due to new production companies and small capacity companies signing some low-price contracts, while the prices of major p-type factories remained stable. The price of n-type granular silicon increased slightly due to its lower price and better quality, resulting in a large number of transactions in the past week. From the cost perspective, the price of industrial silicon has been low recently, leading to an increase in inquiries from silicon material companies, but they continue to purchase as needed and do not hoard inventory. On the other hand, there has been a slight increase in electricity prices in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, further increasing the cost of polycrystalline silicon in these regions. In addition, there has been a small fluctuation in electricity in Inner Mongolia in the past week, which has had a small impact on production and has slightly increased production costs. From the demand perspective, the operating rate of downstream silicon wafer companies has been sufficient recently, but these companies still have silicon material inventory accumulated during the Spring Festival, which can support normal production for more than a week. Therefore, purchasing behavior is more cautious. In addition, the operating rate of silicon wafer companies has almost reached full capacity recently, partly due to the recovery of downstream demand, and partly to produce at full capacity to reduce unit costs in response to the current low prices of silicon wafers, which may accelerate the accumulation of silicon wafer inventory. Overall, the concentrated purchasing behavior of silicon wafer companies may be delayed, as the acceptance of raw material prices remains relatively low. As of this week, there are a total of 17 polycrystalline silicon production companies in China. There are no new plans for shutdowns or maintenance this week, and due to market factors, some new capacity construction may be delayed. In February 2024, the production of polycrystalline silicon was 175,200 tons, an increase of 2.28% compared to the previous month. It is estimated that the production of polycrystalline silicon in March will be around 185,000 tons, an increase of approximately 5%.