The Demand for n-Type Silicon Continues to Outstrip Supply: Update on Pricing
On January 10, the Silicon Industry Branch announced the latest silicon material prices. This week's n-type silicon material price range is USD9,074-9,772 per ton, with an average price of USD9,464.88 per ton, which is the same as the previous month; this week's single crystal dense material price range It ranged from USD7,398.8 to USD9,074 per ton, with an average price of USD8,110.76 per ton, which was the same as the previous month. The price range of n-type granular silicon this week was USD8,096.8-8,376 per ton, with an average price of USD8,236.4 per ton, which was the same as last month.
Li Junfeng, executive director of the China Energy Research Association, said that the panic atmosphere in the photovoltaic industry is not caused by the market, but by the photovoltaic industry itself. Reducing costs is not something everyone is happy about, and it must be done in moderation rather than infinitely low prices. Cost reduction is undoubtedly a powerful tool for enterprise development. But price cuts must be "enough".
Although silicon prices plummeted in 2023, in early 2024, prices on the market finally stabilized. There are multiple factors leading to this trend, such as normal inventory, cost pressure and other factors. In addition, the transaction price of downstream silicon wafers should also play a significant role in the market situation.
It is worth noting that there is still a structural mismatch in the supply and demand relationship between silicon material and silicon wafers. At present, the production ratio of n-type products of leading silicon wafer companies is more than 70%, while the n-type production of leading silicon material companies currently accounts for 50-60%. What's more, some new companies have not yet reached n-type production standards. Taken together, n-type silicon products are in short supply, while p-type silicon products are in relatively abundant supply.
In addition, there are a total of 17 domestic polysilicon manufacturers. At the same time, in the past week, there were no new production shutdowns for maintenance. However, the release of new production capacity fell short of expectations. It is expected that by January 2024, polysilicon production will have limited growth, reaching about 170,000 tons.
Generally speaking, the current price of silicon materials in the solar power generation market has stabilized. However, n-type silicon material is still in short supply, which is not conducive to the stability and development of the solar power generation market. Therefore, no matter from the perspective of technology, policy or market, the solar energy industry needs to seek better solutions to make development more sustainable. At the same time, people's attention to environmental protection and renewable energy should also be raised to a higher level. level.