Since September, the price of solar modules has continued to rise. At the beginning of 2021, SpolarPV saw a continuous price rising of solar modules. In addition, the price changing of raw materials had affected the entire PV supply chain. Here we listed several points for your reference.
Polysilicon price
Most silicon material manufacturers have previously negotiated almost all their September output. Only a few urgent and small orders were signed in the market this week. The transaction prices of small orders have gradually approached 215 yuan per kilogram. Also, because silicon material companies have left not much for sale, there will be more obvious fluctuations at the end of the month. At present, it seems that due to the expectation that there will be a stocking tide before the Chinese national holiday, it is expected that the price at the end of the month may still rise slightly.
Source: EnergyTrends, updated on29th September 2021
Wafer price
On September 14th, a leading Monosilicon wafer manufacturer announced that the price increase has exceeded market expectations by about 5%. The adjusted price guides a small number of companies to follow up.
For the Polycrystalline silicon wafers, the demand began to decrease. The actual domestic transaction price fell back between RMB 2.25 and 2.35 per piece. The overseas market has not yet changed. Mono silicon wafer manufacturers are currently on the sidelines, and the market prices are relatively chaotic shortly.
Source: EnergyTrends, updated on29th Sep 2021
Cell price
Currently, solar cells manufacturers are negotiating to increase their quotations. The overall increase is expected to range from 0.02-0.04 yuan per watt. The rate of increase mainly reflects the rise of silicon wafers. At present, the quotations of various cells manufacturers are relatively scattered. M6 is about 1.07-1.09 yuan per watt, M10 is about 1.09-1.1 yuan per watt. It is expected that the solar cells will have limited growth demand in October. It’s expected that the production decrease during this month.
This week, the price of monocrystalline solar cells remained stable at RMB 3.8-3.9 per cell, prices are rebounding slightly.
Source: EnergyTrends, updated on29th September 2021
Module price
With the price increase of silicon materials and silicon wafers, coupled with the fact that EVA has continued to increase by more than 20%, the cost of modules has become increasingly severe. Compared with July, the cost of module auxiliary materials has increased by 0.04 yuan per watt. The increase of the demand combined with the shortage of some raw materials will affect the production lead time.
Since September, aluminum prices have continued to rise, with the highest increase of over 10% this month. International aluminum prices have also hit a new high since 2006. Some analysts said that the current high aluminum prices are mainly due to the tight supply in the domestic market. The political issue in some main aluminum producers countries has exacerbated the market’s concerns about the supply of raw materials. The aluminum prices will remain high. The frame of the solar panel is mainly made of aluminum alloy, which is one of the main parts of aluminum for photovoltaic.
Logistics costs continue to rise
Increasing consumer demand, container shortages, and continuing global imbalances, all of which have led to rising freight rates. Even now, as importers and exporters seek alternatives to sea transportation, air freight prices are rising.
Due to the COVID situation, traffic blockades have led to a sharp drop in retail purchases. As countries began to reopen, retail purchases rebounded sharply.
Currently, hundreds of container ships are waiting in line to enter the overloaded ports, most of them are in the United States and China.
The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Asia to Europe was $17,500 in September. The price is 10 times higher than last year.
