Polysilicon Spot Prices Stabilized, Wafer Market Sentiment Turned Warmer [SMM Silicon-Based PV Morning Meeting Minutes]

SMM April 22:

Silicon Coal

Price: Inner Mongolia silicon coal prices were raised slightly by 10 yuan/mt, quoted at 1,250-1,290 yuan/mt. Silicon coal prices in other regions remained stable. Specifically, the average price of blended silicon coal in Gansu was 980 yuan/mt, and the average price of granular silicon coal was 1,100 yuan/mt. The average price of non-caking silicon coal in Xinjiang was approximately 855 yuan/mt, with caking silicon coal price range at approximately 1,300-1,650 yuan/mt. The average price of silicon coal in Shaanxi was approximately 850 yuan/mt.

Supply: The produce-based-on-sales model was maintained, with production arranged according to order conditions.

Demand: Overall demand was primarily driven by just-in-time procurement. Judging from the weekly operating conditions of downstream silicon plants, there were isolated cases of production cuts, leading to an overall contraction in demand for raw material silicon coal.

Silicon Metal

Price: Spot silicon metal prices were stagnant this week. SMM east China oxygen-blown #553 silicon was at 9,000-9,200 yuan/mt, and #441 silicon was at 9,200-9,400 yuan/mt. Silicon metal futures prices fluctuated around 8,700 yuan/mt. With absolute prices on the high side, downstream buyers mainly digested inventories, and new order transactions were sluggish. Supply and demand were largely balanced, and prices remained stagnant.

Production:

The silicon metal operating rate saw narrow fluctuations, and silicon metal production showed limited changes MoM.

Inventory:

Social Inventory: According to SMM statistics, as of April 16, the total social inventory of silicon metal in major regions was 559,000 mt, down 5,000 mt WoW (excluding Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, and other regions).

Silicone

Price

DMC: Yesterday's transaction price was 14,700-14,800 yuan/mt, up 100 yuan/mt MoM. Monomer enterprises currently had sufficient order backlogs, and with most output being self-consumed, spot supply in the market was tight, driving prices to rise.

D4: Yesterday's quoted price was 14,800-15,100 yuan/mt, up 150 yuan/mt MoM.

107 Silicone Rubber: Yesterday's quoted price was 14,700-15,300 yuan/mt, stable MoM.

Raw Rubber: Yesterday's quoted price was 15,300-15,700 yuan/mt, stable MoM.

Silicone Oil: Yesterday's quoted price was 15,700-16,300 yuan/mt, stable MoM.

Production:

Under the strict implementation of periodic emission reduction policies and the impact of phased maintenance at some producers, overall supply contracted.

Inventory:

Inventory at most upstream producers remained at low levels, with current operations mainly focused on delivering pre-sold orders.

Polysilicon

Price:

Polysilicon N-type recharging polysilicon was quoted at 34.1-36 yuan/kg. Polysilicon prices were relatively stable overall this week. Orders were signed both in the preceding period and this week. Industry meetings continued to be held this week, coupled with wild swings in futures, and wait-and-see sentiment in the market gradually increased.

Production

Recently, more bases cut production in April, and April polysilicon production may fall short of expectations, with production expected to drop below 90,000 mt. Additional bases may announce production cuts in May.

Inventory:

Polysilicon inventory edged down slightly, mainly due to continued cargo pick-up execution of earlier orders combined with upstream enterprises shipping on futures at high prices.

Wafer

Price

The market price of 18X wafers was 0.9-0.93 yuan/piece, 210RN wafers 1.00-1.03 yuan/piece, and 210N wafers 1.22-1.25 yuan/piece. Market sentiment has shown a trend of improvement recently, with downstream cell sectors exhibiting price-hike sentiment. Overall, wafer prices are expected to rebound after stabilizing.

Production

April wafer production schedules were revised down by 5.4%. Recently, integrated enterprises have shown signs of production cuts, and actual production schedules may be slightly below expectations. Toll processing orders in the market increased and showed a trend of greater concentration.

Inventory

Wafer enterprise inventory began to decrease. As wafer enterprises further cut production, the wafer segment has shifted back to destocking.

High-Purity Quartz Sand

Price

Currently, the price of inner-layer sand in China was 48,000-50,000 yuan/mt, middle-layer sand 20,000-25,000 yuan/mt, and outer-layer sand 16,000-18,000 yuan/mt. The price of imported high-purity quartz sand was 65,000-68,000 yuan/mt. The price of 33-inch quartz crucibles was 6,000-6,300 yuan/piece, and 36-inch quartz crucibles 7,000-7,300 yuan/piece. Inner-layer sand prices are expected to continue declining after stabilizing in the short term.

Production

April quartz sand enterprise production schedules maintained expectations of a slight edge up. China's high-purity quartz sand enterprises formulated production plans in line with wafer demand, while an ex-China high-purity quartz sand enterprise postponed its production equalization plan.

Inventory

In Q2 2026, crucible enterprises plan to purchase reasonably based on wafer planned production, and quartz sand inventory levels continue to increase.