It is predicted that revenues for solar companies in Q3 would be bad and worse than that of July and August. Upstream, midstream, and downstream of the industry chain all suffered record new low prices. Some Taiwanese solar manufacturers has announced their September monthly revenue reports, and their revenues comprehensively maintained a downtrend while merely GET and Gintech Energy rose against the market headwind.
Danen: take orders selectively
Wafer manufacturer Danen took orders selectively. Thus, its revenue in September saw a 51.83% plunge MoM, and a 68.86% collapse YoY. This figure came to NT$41.66 million, a record shattering new low since January 2013. Dane's accumulated revenue for the first-three quarters reached NT $1.198 billion, up 3.99% YoY.
Dane expressed, rivals began to wage a price war at the end of September to consume their inventories. Prices, therefore, slumped unreasonably. Nonetheless, Dane saw the light from the end of the tunnel. In Dane's opinion, wafer price is expected to rebound in the future because of continual inventory closeouts, and Q3's lowered utilization rates.
GET's revenue climbed against the market headwind
Wafer manufacturer Green Energy Technology Inc (GET) accepted orders selectively and this strategy worked. Its September consolidated sales showed a 10% gain MoM, and arrived at NT $715 million. Nevertheless, this number registered a 46% drop YoY. GET's Q3 revenue diminished 46% and achieved at NT $2.568 billion. Its first-three quarters' accumulated revenue amounted to NT$12.6 billion, up 12% from the same periods last year.
GET noted, since Q3, in light of weak demand, product price continued to break record lows. GET proactively filtered orders and focused on long-term customers. By taking orders selectively and lowering utilization rates, GET reduced profit's erosion scale. For now, GET's utilization rate is about 50%. Meanwhile, GET stated that it will keep on developing high-end technology and its environmental patents, in order to enhance its competitiveness in the international market.
The lowest cell price in history slammed Solartech's revenue
Solar power cell sector saw the worst price fall among the entire industry chain, so cell manufacturers were hurt more than others. Solartech's September revenue decreased 22.84% MoM and down 52.8% YoY. This figure came down to NT $449 million. This set a 42-month new record low.
Solartech pointed out, with an ongoing cell price decline, it took lesser orders. Consequently, its utilization rate sharply dwindled, and its revenue apparently shrank.
Throughout the first three quarters, Solartech's consolidated sales grew 11.1% YoY and attained NT$7.879 billion because of heated up market demand in first half of 2016. However, Q3's consolidated sales slid 44% QoQ and got to NT $1.695 billion owing to rapidly deteriorated market demand.
Gintech met 18.6% MoM increase in net sales
Among the sluggish market situation, cell manufacturer Gintech Energy’s net sales increased 18.6% MoM to NT$717 million, yet representing a 48.4% decrease YoY. Net sales in 3Q decreased 53.1% QoQ and 49.6% YoY to NT$2.167 billion, while the accumulative net sales in the first three quarters increased 3.07% YoY to NT$11.67 billion.
Gintech currently maintains its utilization rates at approximately 60~70%. The company stated that orders for high efficiency PERC cells were relatively stable and represented around 10% in total cell shipments. Gintech projects the solar market to warm up through the fourth quarter.
Giga Solar’s revenue hit a 19-month new low
Conductive paste manufacturer Giga Solar Materials Corp. posted a NT$827 million consolidated sales in September, down 13.4% MoM. This set a new lowest point for the past 19 months.
Giga Solar explained, since Q3, demand from Taiwan and mainland China both rapidly went down. This factor directly caused amount of orders to tumble. In addition, in the past few years, many cell paste rivals joined the competition for orders, so Giga Solar’s revenue spiraled down.
When compared with its financial report for August 2016, Giga Solar’s monthly revenue decline scale has narrowed in September. Its August revenue, totaled NT $955 million, experienced a 28.5% drop MoM.