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Polysilicon prices in China which hit record highs earlier this year are expected to decline significantly in 2023 amid expanding production capacity and a crackdown on speculation and monopolistic behavior.
“Amid expansion in production capacity, domestic polysilicon price will likely decline in the rest of the year but may still stay above 200,000 yuan ($28,900) per tonne,” Xu Aihua, deputy head of the Silicon Industry of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
The price will slightly drop in the first half of 2023, before a significant price drop in the second half, he added. Polysilicon is an important material for the solar photovoltaic and electronics industry.
The comment came as Chinese polysilicon companies race to expand production as the price of polysilicon hit a 10-year high on surging solar panel demand and US ban on solar panels made in China’s Xinjiang region under its so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
According to public informaiton, the growth rate of domestic polysilicon price slowed last week, with the price of the raw material hovering at around 305,000 yuan per tonne, compared to about 80,000 yuan per tonne at the start of 2021.
On August 24, China’s industry ministry together with energy and market regulators called for promoting and optimizing the development of photovoltaic industry, warning against price gouging and hoarding. The ministry required local authorities to guide expansion of upstream and downstream companies, and optimize the industrial layout to avoid unhealthy competition and monopolistic behavior.
Chinese manufacturer of power transformers and other electrical equipment TBEA Co said on Monday that the company’s polysilicon output is expected to reach 110,000-120,000 tonnes this year, and will likely hit 240,000-250,000 tonnes in 2023.
The second phase of the company’s 100,000-ton polysilicon fab in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has obtained approval for production, while the construction of a first phase of 100,000-ton polysilicon fab in Zhundong, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is already underway and is expected to enter into production in the first half of next year, according to the company.
GCL Technology, one of China’s largest producers of raw materials for solar panels, said on August 25 that it will work together with TCL to set up a production base in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia that will produce 10,000 tons of polysilicon and 100,000 tons of granular silicon.