Polysilicon Prices

Since the imposition of anti-dumping duties on polysilicon imported from Europe, USA and South Korea by China, the polysilicon has become cheaper elsewhere. The suppliers have lowered the polysilicon prices, as a result of rise in their inventory levels. These duties came after the USA imposing duties on solar panels imports from China and Taiwan. As a consequence of which many Chinese tier 1 panel producers shifted manufacturing to outside Asia, in new places such as Turkey, South Africa and USA.

With the solar industry reaching stability, the poly producers were beginning to think that the tough time has come to an end. Solar panel and cell companies already started making decent profits and it would be a matter of time before the poly firms start to make a profit. The demand for polysilicon also increased and if the price reached $50/kg levels, the polysilicon companies would have shown bumper profits. However seems like all is not well. The prices have continued to fall and have reached to as low as ~$15-16/kg outside China, from $19/kg in Q4 2014.

Impact of Imposition of Duties on Polysilicon

The imposition of anti-dumping duties has hurt the end users the most, who end up paying higher prices for the products. GCL Poly, ReneSola and Daqo are the big Chinese polysilicon producers. Western counterparts like REC Silicon and SunEdison are now planning the opening of poly plants in China, to avoid the anti-dumping duties. The Chinese counterparts have kept the price levels at ~$17.5 per kg. The Chinese market will see some competition from these western peers, after they start manufacturing in China. With process and technology improvements these days, companies have sharply reduced costs. As a result, the prices will further fall.