Solar wafer makers have seen an instant rise in stocks after raising the price of their products.
Image: Faungg/Flickr
The decision by Chinese solar materials manufacturers to gamble on expanding production capacity even as Beijing’s 5/31 policy announcement stunned the solar world, appears to be paying off.
This week saw two of the world’s leading silicon wafer producers raise prices, with a third expected to follow suit any day now.
Module manufacturers are so confident of a newly-resurgent global solar market they have already outlined second-quarter production plans and will even be at work during the Chinese new year celebrations, which start on Tuesday.
It adds up to a buoyant feeling in China with Zhonghuan Semiconductor on Tuesday raising the price of its monocrystalline silicon wafers 4.84%, from CNY3.1 ($0.46) to CNY3.25 per piece. Within hours, GCL followed suit for its multicrystalline products, which went up in value 4.88%, from CNY2.05 to CNY2.15 per piece.
With shares in both companies leaping as a result – Zhonghuan’s stock was up around 20% on the Shanghai exchange by close of play today and GCL gained more than 14% today alone – there is widespread speculation wafer manufacturing peer Longi will shortly raise its prices too.
The PR and marketing departments of Xi’an-based Longi refused to comment on the speculation when approached by pv magazine, however, and also refused to discuss the impact of the price changes made by their rivals.
Source: pv magazine
