Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) recently announced that there were subsidies to the US polysilicon under investigation which led to substantive damages toward China’s domestic industry. Thus, countervailing duty of 6.5% has been imposed on two of the US manufacturers, Hemlock and AE Polysilicon. According to EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, most of the Chinese polysilicon manufacturers have resumed production, which will increase polysilicon capacity. Hence, the anti-subsidy duty will have limited impact on price as price is not likely to increase in the future.
Regular inspections have been conducted on the No.4 reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant. However, delay on the inspections has once again led to Japan’s “zero nuclear power” status.
Due to the EU-China trade wars and the rising of Asian markets, PV manufacutrers have started to re-adjust their strategic plans.
As prices of China’s polysilicon spot market continue its upward ascend, it triggered price hikes in Asia’s polysilicon market that in turn caused cost increases for wafer manufacturers. Continual raw material price upticks are compressing silicon wafer manufacturers’ profits. Under operation pressure, wafer manufacturers are also considering raising silicon wafer prices.
