Silicon wafer prices continue to fall

Published: Apr 10, 2024 16:05
Price: Silica prices remain stable, and silica demand is still mainly concentrated in the northwest region. The number of silicon companies in the southwest that shut down for maintenance is still increasing slightly, and silicon companies in Sichuan have not yet made preparations for raw material procurement for resumption of production during the flood season.

SHANGHAI, Apr 10 (SMM) -

Silica

Price: Silica prices remain stable, and silica demand is still mainly concentrated in the northwest region. The number of silicon companies in the southwest that shut down for maintenance is still increasing slightly, and silicon companies in Sichuan have not yet made preparations for raw material procurement for resumption of production during the flood season. The overall demand for silica is still at a relatively low level. The ex-mine price of low-grade silica in Yunnan is 350-370 yuan/ton. At present, the ex-mine price of high-grade silica in Inner Mongolia is 400-420 yuan/ton with the average down 5 yuan/ton. The ex-mine price of high-grade silica in Hubei is 420-480 yuan/ton. The ex-mine price of high-grade silica in Guizhou is 300-340 yuan/ton.

Output: Mines in various regions maintained normal production and there was no obvious gap in the overall supply.

Inventory: Affected by the downstream industrial silicon market, the raw materials inventory of a small number of silicon companies has been basically consumed and they have no intention of replenishing the inventory. The raw material inventory of most small and medium-sized downstream silicon companies is at a relatively low level.

Industrial silicon metal

Price: Yesterday, above-standard #553 silicon in east China was 13200-13400 yuan/ton. Price: Industrial silicon futures prices rebounded slightly after Qingming Festival, while spot prices remained weak with the price decline narrowing compared with last week. Downstream users lowered prices and purchased on demand, Secondary slicon companies in Sichuan, Yunnan kept prices firm

Output: According to SMM statistics, China's industrial silicon output in March 2024 was 366,300 tons, a month-on-month increase of 21,000 tons or 6.2%, and a year-on-year increase of 53,000 tons or 17.1%. In April, the national industrial silicon output in April will drop to around 340,000 tons due to losses and production cuts.

Inventory: According to SMM's statistics, social inventories of industrial silicon totalled 370,000 mt as of April 7, up 5,000 mt from a week ago. The inventory of general public warehouses was 114,000 tons, a growth of 5,000 tons from a week earlier, and the inventory of public delivery warehouses was 256,000 tons (including the part that has not been registered as warehouse receipts), flat from last week.

Silicone

Price

DMC: The current price is 13800-14500 yuan/ton, and the price fell this week.

D4: The current quotation is 14500-14800 yuan/ton, and the price fell this week.

107 silicone rubber:The current quotation is 14500-15000 yuan/ton, and the price fell this week.

110 methyl vinyl silicone rubber:The current price is 15300-16000 yuan/ton, and the price fell this week.

Silicone oil: The current quotation is 15500-16500 yuan/ton, and the price fell this week.

Production: Supply remained stable for the time being this week. In the near future, a DMC enterprise in North China will enter maintenance, which will last about 10 days. In addition, the DMC enterprise in East China that was previously shut down plans to resume work in the near future, and the overall supply is expected to increase.

Inventory: Silicone inventory continues to rise. The current willingness of downstream companies to purchase is still low. The raw material inventory on hand of companies has not been consumed yet, and the current price continues to fall. Transactions are poor.

Polysilicon

Price

Price: The mainstream prices of N-type polysilicon and dense polysilicon were 55-58 yuan/kg and 46-50 yuan/kg respectively yesterday. Most of the orders signed currently are on a weekly basis.

Production

Polysilicon manufacturers have maintained normal production schedules, ramped up production and newly invested bases have increased production normally. Domestic polysilicon production in April is expected to be around 180,000 tons.

Inventory

As some downstream companies have taken delivery, polysilicon inventories have stabilised.

Silicon wafer

Price

The mainstream average traded price of monocrystalline silicon wafer M10 and G12 stood at 1.6-1.7 yuan/piece and 2.1-2.35 yuan/piece respectively. N-type 182 silicon wafer price dropped to 1.5-1.6 yuan/piece. Prices fell further.

Production

Silicon wafer production is expected to decrease in April. Some second- and third-tier companies will resume production as inventory and cost pressures decrease. The total output is expected to return to around 68GW.

Inventory

Currently, silicon wafer inventories decrease, with the inventory of crystal pulling plants below 4 billion pieces. But there is still pressure to clear silicon wafer inventory.

High-purity quartz sand

Price

Recently, the price of high-purity quartz sand middle layer sand was stable. The domestic price of inner layer sand is 390,000-440,000 yuan/ton, the price of middle layer sand is 150,000-200,000 yuan/ton, and the price of outer layer sand is 24,000-120,000 yuan/ton.

Production

Recently, the domestic supply of high-purity quartz sand has been relatively stable, but overseas supply has begun to increase, with the supply from the United States and India increasing to varying degrees.

Inventory

In terms of inventory, the quartz sand market transactions were still relatively quiet this week. The current inventory of quartz sand companies is gradually increasing.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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