According to the disclosed information from the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry Specification Conditions and industry calculations, the year-on-year growth of production in different sectors in China, including polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules, all approached or exceeded 80% in July and August 2023.
On 9 October, the department of electronic information of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the operational data of the national PV manufacturing sector for July and August.
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The report indicated that China’s PV manufacturing sector continued to operate at a high level from July and August, with sustained rapid growth in scale and major product output.
Specifically in the polysilicon sector, the national production for July and August reached 233,500 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 93.8%. In the silicon wafer sector, the national production between July and August reached 98.9GW, a year-on-year increase of 84.3%.
In the cell sector, the national production of silicon cells from July to August reached 84.7GW, a year-on-year increase of 77.9%. Lastly, in the module sector, the national production of modules for July and August reached 76.7GW, with a year-on-year increase of approximately 77.8%. Exports reached 32.7GW, showing a year-on-year increase of 11.2%.
The cumulative production of PV cells in China exceeded 320GW for the first eight months of 2023. The export value of PV products such as wafers, cells and modules reached US$36.17 billion with a slight year-on-year increase of 1.1%.
However, there is a noticeable downward trend in prices. The average price for 2mm and 3.2mm PV calendered glass from January to August was RMB18.4 (US$2.52) per square metre and RMB25.6 (US$3.51) per square metre, respectively, representing year-on-year decreases of 12.2% and 6%.
In August, the average prices were RMB18.2 (US$2.49) per square metre and RMB25.3 (US$3.46) per square metre respectively, with year-on-year decreases of 11.7% and 5.4%.
In addition, data from the MIIT showed that the cumulative production of PV calendered glass in China reached 15.94 million tonnes from January to August, a year-on-year increase of 65.5%, with production in August reaching 2.22 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year increase of 56.6%.