Trina Solar squeezed a little more module shipments out of the factory gate in 2010 than previously guided. Shipments were approximately 351MW for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to previous guidance of approximately 300MW, resulting in total 2010 module shipments reaching approximately 1.06GW in 2010. Net revenues in the fourth quarter were US$641.8 million, an increase of 26.3% sequentially and 104.9% year-over-year. Total revenue for 2010 reached US$1.86 billion, an increase of 119.8% from 2009. Gross profit was US$584.4 million, an increase of 146.4% from 2009, while gross margin was 31.5%, compared to 28.1% in 2009.
“Our growth in 2010 demonstrates the successful execution of our strategy to expand sales across distribution segments and geographic end markets in North America and other exciting PV markets such as India, Australia and China,” noted Jifan Gao, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar. “We believe this reflects growing customer appreciation of the high quality and performance of Trina Solar products, and our brand's increasing global recognition, which we are enhancing through premier marketing initiatives such as our Formula 1 team sponsorship.”
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“Our commitment to create high quality products remains critical to our success, and in the fourth quarter of 2010, we initiated construction of our Key State PV Research Laboratory, which is located next to our manufacturing facilities and a growing number of strategic supply partners operating within our state of the art Changzhou Trina PV Park. We expect to complete the construction of the laboratory in late 2011,” added Gao.
Trina Solar guided shipment volumes for PV modules to be slightly higher than that for the fourth quarter of 2010. For the full year of 2011, the Company expects total PV module shipments between 1.75GW to 1.80GW, representing an increase of 65.6% to 70.3% from 2010.
PV cell and module production reached approximately 1.2GW of annualized capacity during the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to its previous guidance of 1.1GW, based on actual manufacturing yield.
However, Trina Solar noted that its non-silicon manufacturing cost for its core raw materials increased by US$0.01 to was approximately $0.74 per watt due to strong market demand for PV modules in the fourth quarter, indicating tight material supply.
This is not expected to last as the company guided non-silicon manufacturing cost is expected to decline to approximately US$0.70 by the end of 2011.
Strong demand is expected to continue in 2011, according to Trina Solar. PV cell and module production capacity is targeted to increase to approximately 1.2GW and 1.9GW, respectively, in the second half of 2011, based on actual manufacturing yield.
