Silicon Metal Main Contract Drops Below "10,000"; Polysilicon Wafer Prices Remain Basically Stable [SMM Silicon-Based PV Morning Meeting Summary]

SMM March 12 News:

Silica

Prices: Silica prices remained stable. Downstream silicon plants in south-west China have unclear production resumption timelines for this year's rainy season, but raw material procurement is expected to gradually commence by month-end, with anticipated positive demand for silica raw materials. Currently, mine-mouth prices for high-grade silica in Jiangxi are at 430-460 yuan/mt, in Inner Mongolia at 350-380 yuan/mt, and in Hubei at 400-450 yuan/mt.

Production: Silica supply remains normal, but recent procurement demand has not met expectations, keeping overall supply relatively loose.

Inventory: Silicon plants in south-west China have mostly reported unclear production resumption plans for the rainy season, resulting in no significant silica raw material restocking plans in the near term.

Silicon Metal

Prices: Spot silicon metal prices continued a weak trend, with the futures market also declining. Yesterday, the SI2505 contract broke below the "10,000 yuan" threshold, reaching an intraday low of 9,975 yuan/mt and a high of 10,065 yuan/mt, closing at 9,985 yuan/mt, down 85 yuan/mt from the previous day. Market pessimism prevailed.

Production:

Silicon metal enterprises showed both increases and decreases in supply, with more new capacity added. Last week's silicon metal production increased WoW.

Inventory:

Social Inventory: SMM statistics show that as of March 7, national social inventory of silicon metal totaled 599,000 mt, down 9,000 mt WoW. Among this, general warehouses held 141,000 mt, down 6,000 mt WoW, and delivery warehouses held 458,000 mt (including unregistered warehouse warrants and spot cargo), down 3,000 mt WoW. The weekly destocking was mainly observed in Tianjin.

Silicone

Prices:

DMC: Current prices are at 13,900-14,300 yuan/mt. This week, the market's transaction center remained stable, with low-end prices slightly rising.

D4: Current prices are at 13,900-14,600 yuan/mt. This week, the market's transaction center remained stable, with low-end prices slightly rising.

107 Silicone Rubber: Current prices are at 14,200-14,800 yuan/mt. Driven by demand from the curtain wall exhibition, 107 silicone rubber prices continued to rise slightly this week, with the transaction center moving upward accordingly.

Raw Silicone Rubber: Current prices are at 14,300-15,000 yuan/mt, with market prices stable.

Silicone Oil: Current prices are at 15,000-15,800 yuan/mt, with market prices stable.

Production:

Recently, some monomer enterprises have resumed production after completing maintenance, but the industry's overall operating rate remains around 70%.

Inventory:

This week, monomer enterprises' inventories showed little change WoW, with downstream just-in-time procurement as the main activity.

Polysilicon

Prices:

Yesterday, mainstream transaction prices for N-type recharging polysilicon were at 39-45 yuan/kg. This week, polysilicon prices remained stable, with limited market transactions. The market is still in the early stages of order signing, and top-tier enterprises are temporarily observing.

Production:

In March, due to the impact of calendar days, polysilicon production schedules are expected to increase, with some enterprises potentially undergoing maintenance.

Inventory:

Previously, major wafer enterprises signed some orders, leading to increased cargo pick-up recently. Polysilicon inventory saw a slight decline.

Silicon Wafer

Prices:

Market prices for N-type 18X silicon wafers are at 1.18-1.2 yuan/piece, and for N-type 210RN silicon wafers at 1.3-1.35 yuan/piece. Silicon wafer prices remained stable. After the price increase in March, other sizes besides 210R faced some resistance to the price hike.

Production:

March silicon wafer production was revised to exceed 52 GW, with some top-tier enterprises maintaining relatively high operating rates.

Inventory:

March battery production schedules remain higher than silicon wafer schedules. Future demand is expected to improve, with continued destocking anticipated.

High-Purity Quartz Sand 

Prices:

This week, high-purity quartz sand prices remained stable. Domestic inner-layer sand prices are at 60,000-75,000 yuan/mt, middle-layer sand at 35,000-45,000 yuan/mt, and outer-layer sand at 20,000-25,000 yuan/mt. Market price centers slightly moved upward this week, but no transactions have occurred at current prices, with upstream and downstream enterprises mainly in a standoff.

Production:

Domestic operating rates remained stable this week, with quartz sand production schedules increasing in March.

Inventory:

March silicon wafer production schedules saw slight upward adjustments, with demand expected to improve. Quartz sand demand is likely to rise, with inventory expected to decline in the future.

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