Polysilicon prices rise

With the rise of international oil prices, the level of alternative energy prices has also risen. According to a large-scale domestic polysilicon plant management sources, the current spot price of polysilicon has reached the highest 114 US dollars per kilogram, compared with the end of 2010 there is no small increase, and some polysilicon plants have begun to accelerate expansion to meet a new wave of photovoltaic boom arrival.

Since European countries successively introduced PV subsidy reduction policies in 2010, the market once worried about the 2011 PV market demand. However, the actual situation is that after Germany and other countries introduced the PV subsidy reduction policy, the PV demand did not show a significant decline, and the negative impact of PV subsidy reduction was lower than market expectations. With the "boots" for Germany's 2011 photovoltaic subsidies cut down a few weeks ago, the parties have also started to prepare for the arrival of the 2011 photovoltaic installation boom, which has provided the foundation for polysilicon price hikes.

Statistics from photovoltaic solar energy networks show that since February 2011, the polysilicon market price has started to rise. In the week after the Spring Festival, the price of polysilicon silicon material ranged from 75 to 90 US dollars/kg, and the highest price rose by about US$5/kg from the previous year. The latest spot price of polysilicon silicon has reached 114 US dollars per kilogram (about 750 yuan).

According to the industry insiders mentioned above, not only the spot price of the company commander, but also the price of the company's long-term order, has risen, and it has not yet been able to buy it. The price of a long-term order recently signed by the company is more than US$100.

“The increase in polysilicon prices is affected by market demand on the one hand, and on the other hand, from the perspective of supply, the “Polysilicon Industry Access Requirements” promulgated in January 2011 has significantly increased the entry barrier for the polysilicon industry, and it is expected that the growth rate of polysilicon production capacity in the future may be low. It is expected that the increase in production capacity will lag behind the growth in market demand for a long time.” An industry analyst predicts that “the maintenance of polysilicon prices will become a trend.”

It is reported that in the above situation, some domestic polysilicon manufacturers are actively expanding their production capacity.

It is worth noting that, with regard to downstream PV modules, as the PV industry has ended in the off-season, the price of PV modules has recently risen by a certain margin. Statistics show that after the Spring Festival, polysilicon solar modules (230W) quoted at 1.75 ~ 1.8 US dollars / watt, a considerable increase over the previous year.

An analyst of photovoltaic solar energy network said that taking into account that Germany's PV subsidy policy adjustment has been settled, before the other countries lowered the price of PV subsidy in 2011, the second quarter will be expected to usher in a new round of seizures. At the same time, the return on investment of the photovoltaic system in Italy continues to remain high, and the country’s photovoltaic market demand will continue to be strong. In addition, the United States, Japan, and other markets are also expected to grow steadily. Therefore, it is expected that in the future, driven by the German and Italian markets, the demand for the photovoltaic market will likely accelerate.

The agency also believes that due to continued strong demand for polysilicon, as well as industry access threshold increase, the future supply of polysilicon market will show a tight trend, polysilicon prices may rise again.