L R AS Published on Monday 1 May 2023 - n° 443 - Categories:brochures
Opis analysis of the wafer sector
Prices for M10 wafers have held steady for two months, but fell by 0.6% over the past week for the first time in two months. Wafer production slightly outpaced demand growth, according to Opis, a Dow Jones company,
China produced around 48 GW of wafers in April, an increase of
7% compared with March. Industry players agree that wafer production is growing faster than expected, and some who expected wafers to continue to trade sideways have shifted to a more bearish outlook.
This slight dip could indicate that wafer prices are set to fall gradually in the short term, in the wake of the continued decline in upstream polysilicon over the previous few weeks.
The weakness in the wafer segment comes as Chinese imports of high purity quartz (HPQ) arrive, suggesting that wafer manufacturers should be able to ramp up capacity to full capacity.
While the current shortage of high purity quartz has eased, concerns about future shortages continue to affect the market. With US-based Sibelco planning to double quartz production capacity at its Spruce Pine plant by 2025, and Spruce Pine, North Carolina, being the world's largest source of high-purity quartz, there could be some good news for wafer manufacturers, albeit on the distant horizon.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/04/28/m10-wafer-prices-break-2-month-hold-slipping-0-6/
PV Magazine of 28 April 2023
