The latest survey conducted by EnergyTrend, the green energy industry research division of TrendForce, indicates that while spot prices for polysilicon and Si wafer have remained at $50/kg and $2/piece, the polysilicon and Si wafer manufacturers have been experiencing price pressure from downstream makers. In fact, TrendForce indicates that downstream manufacturers’ spot price targets for September 2011 are under $50/kg for polysilicon wafer and lower than $2/piece for multi-Si wafer.
In terms of solar cell and module, TrendForce indicated that even though PV market demand has recovered partially, the market supply still exceeds its demand. While the worldwide production capacity for solar cell and module remains greater than the market demand and Chinese manufacturers continue to expand their capacity, oversupply of solar cell and module persists. On the other hand, as strong demand for high conversion efficiency product persists, the price quotations for related products have remained unchanged.
In addition, TrendForce continues to monitor the potential meltdown of the U.S. Solar Industry. After REC and Q-Cells’ announcement for closing their production lines, TrendForce anticipates a rapid profit margin decline will increase the management pressure for both American and European manufacturers. If the market price does not recover significantly to improve PV maker’s profit margin, American and European manufacturers with weak business performances may not survive this wave of global solar industry changes.