After going through weak overall demand in 3Q16, the PV industry began to see rising demand in October and November. However, Taiwanese manufacturers’ financial performances didn’t seem to grow consistently according to their financial reports, which had something to do with each company’s strategy adjustment.
Wafer: SAS witnessed strong increase in revenue, while GET saw slight rise only
SAS saw significant growth, with the revenue reaching NT$ 2.76 billion in November, up 20.4% MoM, and NT$ 1.27 billion of which came from its PV business. The company’s revenue in November was almost equivalent to June this year. The monthly growth rate even reached 47.1%. SAS is positive about 4Q16, indicating that the number of orders for its high-efficiency wafers and cells have increased from October.
Another company, GET, has witnessed sales growth for three consecutive months. Its consolidated revenue reached NT$ 990 million in November and NT$ 14.5 billion for the first eleven months of 2016, up 4% YoY. According to EnergyTrend’s understanding, GET sold out all of its production in October and November. Yet, since wafer prices will decline right after reaching the ceiling after November, GET’s order prices for December may be affected as well.
Danen’s revenue reached NT$ 56.06 million in November, a 7.73% rise MoM but a 60.11% dip from the same period last year. The company’s total revenue reached NT$ 1.306 billion in the first eleven months of 2016, down 8.74% from the same period last year.
PV cell: Growth range varied, NSP was the only one that saw negative growth
Due to the increasing demand in the Chinese market as well as higher prices, Gintech’s financial performance improved in 4Q16. Its revenue reached NT$ 8.9 billion in November, up 8.3% MoM, but still declined by 35.8% from NT$ 1.387 billion same period last year. The total revenue in the first eleven months reached NT$ 13.386 million, down 5.1% from the same period last year. Gintech said they will continue to increase its utilization rate to maintain growth.
On the other hand, Gintech has completed its 400MW cell expansion in Thailand. They will start to run the total capacity of 750MW at this factory in 2016, pushing up the company’s total capacity from 1.8GW to 2.2GW. The completion of the expansion is likely to bring positive effect to its revenue in 2017.
Motech’s consolidated revenue increased 26.48% MoM to NT$ 1.935 billion in November, a new high in the past four months. As for TSEC, its consolidated revenue dropped 4.7% from October to NT$ 610 million in November, also a new high in the past four months.
Small-scale manufacturers saw substantial growth in revenue in November. Because of higher shipment, prices, and order postponement, Solartech’s revenue reached NT$ 736 million in November, up 59.7% from October. Meanwhile, Tainergy’s revenue increased 57.2% MoM to NT$ 507 million.
Although demand started to pick up, NSP’s consolidated revenue declined 20.03% MoM to NT$ 898 million in November due to order postponement, a 54.22% dip compared to NT$ 1.962 billion same period last year. The company’s cumulative revenue in the first eleven months of 2016 reached NT$ 15.41 billion, down 21.28% from the same period last year. NSP indicated that they have almost completed moving their equipment to its factories in China and Southeast Asia. Before the end of this year, they will continue to put into operation, hoping to increase their revenue.
