SHANGHAI, Apr. 10 (SMM) –Domestic polysilicon producers are still unable to free themselves from difficulties following the Qingming Festival. According to SMM's survey April 6th, there are 15 polysilicon producers conducting operating at present but have yet to run at full capacity. Operating rates at only some particular producers stand between 70-80%, but those at the rest of them are between 30%-50%.

In SMM's view, a reversed relationship between polysilicon costs and selling prices, sluggish downstream demand, and severe competition from overseas markets are major reasons behind the slack domestic polysilicon industry.

Actual traded prices of domestic polysilicon were in the RMB 170,000-180,000/mt range Monday, below the cost of most polysilicon producers. In response to this, some producers have halted production for holiday, and some are trying to maintain production and have the possibility of suspending operation at any time.

Although domestic polysilicon prices are moving at low levels, downstream enterprises still prefer to buy on overseas markets on account of their high quality and lower prices, which further dampened domestic markets. Actual traded polysilicon prices in South Korea were between USD 23-24/kg Monday.    

According to China Customs, China's polysilicon imports were 7,615 mt in February, up 129.6% YoY and 62.6% MoM.

SMM believes silicon wafer and battery slice producers are in a difficult position for the time being and are squeezing production costs to maintain production. Those producers who can insist on till the end can be the winner in the fact of a weak domestic polysilicon market.