[SMM topic] Major events in the small Metal Market in the first half of 2018

SMM7 11: for the metal market, the first half of 2018 is a volatile period of time, in which the market for small metals is also twists and turns.

"Cobalt Lithium" in small metals fell for the first time after more than two years of continuous rise, and has since fallen all the way down. the 531 Photovoltaic New deal has made all photovoltaic enterprises under pressure, and industry leaders have jointly written a letter. Rare earth environmental protection heavy fist pressure, black heart enterprises rectified and shut down; affected by the national steel plant production restrictions, manganese market is not optimistic; supported by national policy, cadmium telluride will lead green building materials in the future; In the field of bismuth, with the rising amount of bismuth in China, the market share and voice are increasing; the localization of ITO targets is accelerating, and the competition in the indium industry is facing fierce challenges. in the field of infrared optics, germanium has become a new explosion point in the future.

In previous topics, SMM detailed the first half of 2018 chronicles of manganese, cobalt, lithium, rare earths, and silicon in small metals:

[SMM Cobalt Lithium] Chronicle of Cobalt Lithium in the first half of 2018

[SMM topic] Manganese events in the first half of 2018

[SMM rare Earth] rare Earth events in the first half of 2018

[SMM topic] Silicon events in the first half of 2018

In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the small metal industry, SMM reviewed the small metal market and sorted out the small metals (covering antimony, tungsten, indium, gallium, germanium, bismuth, selenium, tellurium, etc.) in addition to the four mentioned above in the first half of 2018:

On April 21, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that in recent years, the development level of China's entire chip industry has become closer and closer to the first echelon of the world, and domestic chips are being used in many fields. Especially in chip design, the scale of the industry has expanded rapidly and has penetrated into us (all aspects of work and life). From the people's life to the industrial field to the future artificial intelligence, intelligent cars and so on are using domestic chips to support the development of their industry.

On April 26, as the traditional "6 ·30" grid-connected deadline approached, the photovoltaic market finally began to get rid of the decline in the first quarter, significantly warmer. Data show that the recent upstream polysilicon prices have taken the lead, downstream product demand began to stabilize and recover.

On 18 May, the United States Department of the Interior issued a circular on the final list of "key minerals", summarized below. The United States is heavily dependent on imports of certain minerals that are critical to national security and economic prosperity. The dependence of the United States on foreign resources has created its economic and military strategic vulnerability to adverse foreign government actions, natural disasters and other events that may interfere with the supply of these key minerals.

On May 23, the silicone production line of Hesheng Silicon Company is currently running at full load. the 75000 ton graphite electrode project of Shanshan Plant has entered trial production and is expected to be put into production in June.

On May 27, Tongwei shares announced that Tongwei shares and single crystal giant Central shares signed an agreement to purchase about 70,000 tons of polysilicon from Tongwei shares from 2018 to 2021, of which not less than 1400 tons in 2018. Approximately 20,000 tons per year in 2019-2021.

On June 1, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Energy Bureau issued a new photovoltaic policy: for the time being, the ordinary photovoltaic power station index, the distributed photovoltaic index 10GW, the newly put into operation photovoltaic power station benchmark electricity price and the distributed power subsidy will all be reduced by 5 cents. Affected by the New deal, 2018 China's new photovoltaic installation or a sharp decline, equipment price reduction triggered by a new round of industry reshuffle is inevitable. In the first echelon of the industry, large enterprises with strong cost control ability can get support from foreign markets, while small and medium-sized enterprises are difficult to survive the cold winter of the industry.

On June 1, Dow Chemical, the world's silicone giant, announced that it would raise the prices of a wide range of silicone products in order to ensure a normal supply of products. Including but not limited to: silicone sealant, silicone gel, thermal interface materials, electronic adhesives, etc., the price increase can be as high as 15%.

On June 6, Jingsheng Mechanical and Electrical said on the interactive platform that the new photovoltaic policy has an impact on the industry in the short term, and is conducive to eliminating backward production capacity and accelerating the process of affordable Internet access in the long run. At present, the company's business situation is normal, no order cancellation or breach of contract has occurred. The company will, as always, do a good job in R & D, continue to revolve around the "advanced materials, advanced equipment" development strategy, in the semiconductor, photovoltaic, sapphire materials industry to become bigger and stronger.

On June 6, electronic grade polysilicon with purity requirement of 99.999999999% was finally mass produced. Jiangsu Xinhua Semiconductor material Technology Co., Ltd. after a series of strict verification and testing, recently a batch of integrated circuits with high-purity silicon materials exported to South Korea, but also to some domestic wafer processing plants batch supply. This indicates that the silicon materials used in semiconductor integrated circuits in China have reached the international first-class quality standard. it is also the first time that Chinese polysilicon manufacturing enterprises export high purity silicon materials for integrated circuits to the international market.

On June 14, Longji shares, a leading global single crystal silicon wafer factory, announced the latest price. It is reported that under the influence of China's 531 photovoltaic new deal, The company sharply lowered the price of its products: 180 μ m thickness, low resistance single crystal silicon wafer price from 4.25 yuan per piece at home and US $0.58 abroad to 3.65 yuan per piece at home and US $0.495 abroad. Each piece fell 0. 6 yuan, or 14. 1 percent, to $0.085.

On June 21, (SEMI), the International Semiconductor Industry Association, announced that global shipments of semiconductor industry equipment in North America innovated by as much as $2.706 billion in May, up 19.2 percent from a year earlier and 0.6 percent from a month earlier. According to the International Semiconductor Industry Association, demand for semiconductor equipment remains strong, driven mainly by demand for artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and big data.

On June 27, construction workers on the Jinan South Bypass Expressway were laying photovoltaic pavement, the world's first highway to carry photovoltaic pavement development and laying. Photovoltaic road surface through the collection of solar energy into electrical energy, so as to achieve solar power generation. Using photovoltaic intelligent road, through the pavement icing detection system, the road icing can be sensed in real time, so that the electric heating system can be automatically turned on, the road ice and snow can be removed in time, and the travel safety can be guaranteed.

On June 28th (ISMA), the Indian solar manufacturers' association, called for a 95 per cent safeguard tax on imported solar cells and modules to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports. The association made a request on the issue at a public hearing held on Tuesday by the General Directorate of Trade Relief, which is part of the Ministry of Commerce, (DGTR). The General Administration of Trade and Relief has listened to the views of different sectors of the solar industry on the responsibility of solar cells to ensure that they are responsible for the protection of solar cells.