SHANGHAI, Mar 30 (SMM) - According to the latest customs data, from January to February 2022, China imported 558 mt of silver powder, an increase of 24% year-on-year. The main importing countries were Japan, South Korea and the US. The imported quantity of flake silver powder (mainly used in the electronics industry) with an average particle size of less than 10 microns was 7.7 mt, a decrease of 37% year on year. The import quantity of non-flake silver powder with an average particle size of less than 3 microns was 253 mt, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year. Other non-flake silver powder imported 283 mt, up 60% year-on-year. Other flake silver powder was 14 mt, up 24% year-on-year.
According to the data released by the National Energy Administration, in 2021, the cumulative installed capacity of PV in China was 306GW, and in 2021, the newly installed capacity in China was 54.88GW, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year. In January and February 2022, the installed photovoltaic capacity in China was 10.86GW, with an increase of 234.15%, which exceeded the market expectation. Meanwhile, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the cumulative output of solar cells (photovoltaic cells) in January and February 2022 was 38.7GW, an increase of 39.4% year-on-year.
SMM understands that photovoltaic conductive paste and electronic conductive paste are the main applications of silver powder, and the amount of silver powder used in photovoltaic conductive paste accounts for about 75% of the total conductive paste. As the installed photovoltaic capacity drove the demand for photovoltaic cells to increase, which in turn pushed up the demand for silver paste and silver powder, China's imports of non-flake silver powder from January to February 2022 increased by 26.4% year-on-year. In China, there is still a big technical barrier to the stable mass production of 0.2-0.3 micron silver powder needed for the front silver paste of solar fine grid in photovoltaic, so this kind of product mainly rely on imports. Meanwhile, the silver powder for the microelectronics industry in China is also relatively dependent on imports. Therefore, the import quantity of non-flake silver powder with an average particle size of less than 3 microns increased by 2.4% year-on-year. For other types of silver powder, besides the large demand for silver powder in China, the spread between China and overseas also affects the import and export volume. Because the price of silver powder mainly depends on the spot prices of silver, the average spot price of silver in London in January 2022 was 4,700 yuan/kg, and the average spot price of SMM #1 silver in China in the same month was 4,749 yuan/kg. The spread of raw materials leads to the obvious price advantage of international silver powder. What’s more, the demand increases. As a result, the import volume of other non-flake silver powders increased significantly from January to February 2022.
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The above representation and data is based on market information SMM believes to be reliable at the time of acquiring as well as the comprehensive assessment by SMM research team, and any and all information provided in this article is for reference only. This article does not constitute a direct recommendation for investment or any decisions in any form and clients shall act on their own discreet and any decisions made by clients are not within the responsibility of SMM.
