Substantial Increase In The Production Of Silicon Wafers Has Led To Increased Supply Tightness Of Quartz Crucibles

Due to the recovery of downstream demand and the boom of N-type battery production, the monthly production of solar cell has achieved a leapfrog growth of over 30% month-on-month and reached 46 GW. Enterprises maintained a high production enthusiasm given the current profit of nearly 1 yuan/piece for silicon wafer, with the output reaching 45.1 GW in March, and the production schedule in April is expected to exceed 46 GW.

The substantial increase in the production of silicon wafers has led to increased supply tightness of quartz crucibles. At present, a quartz crucible consumes around 95 kg of quartz sand. Based on the current operating rates of silicon wafers, the monthly consumption of high-purity quartz sand is around 6,935 mt, while the current monthly supply of quartz sand is around 6,600 mt, meaning the supply of quartz sand is insufficient.

At present, first-tier silicon wafer companies are still purchasing crucibles in the market, which has limited the increase in the operating rates of some second- and third-tier crystal pulling plants. The silicon wafer output continued to increase in March, but almost all of the increase came from first-tier companies.