Daqo New Energy’s FY2024 Revenues Declined By 56% YoY

Sharp price declines across the entire value chain were responsible for the leading Chinese polysilicon supplier to the solar PV industry, Daqo New Energy, reporting a net loss of $345.2 million in FY2024 as its revenues slashed by 56% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to $1 billion. 

Earlier this year, Daqo’s primary subsidiary Xinjiang Daqo New Energy issued a profit warning, expecting to incur a net loss of RMB 2.6 billion to RMB 3.1 billion owing to provisions for inventory impairment and fixed asset impairment, compared to a RMB 5.8 billion net profit in FY2023 (see Daqo New Energy Unit Issues Net Loss Guidance For 2024 Financials). 

The company claims its polysilicon ASPs dropped from $11.48/kg in 2023 to $5.66/kg in 2024, forcing it to curtail polysilicon production to reduce cash burn, especially during H2. Last year, Daqo reported polysilicon production volume of 205,068 MT, thus meeting its guidance range, while selling 181,362 MT ending the year at a reasonable inventory level.  

“On the operational front, during the fourth quarter, the Company continued to operate at a lower utilization rate of 40%-50% of our nameplate capacity in light of weak market prices,” said Daqo’s Chairman and CEO Xiang Xu following the industry trend as downstream customers continued to use their inventory instead of buying fresh polysilicon and wafer capacity utilization rates hovered at approximately 50%. 

During Q4 2024, Daqo produced 34,236 metric tons (MT) of polysilicon for an average total production cost of $6.81/kg, compared to $6.61/kg in the previous quarter. The company sold 42,191 MT for ASP of $4.62/kg, down from $4.69/kg in Q3 2024 (see Daqo Sustains Net Loss In Q3 2024 Amid Challenging Market Conditions). 

Its quarterly revenues of $195.4 million were slightly down from $198.5 million in Q3 2024. Daqo reported a gross loss of $65.3 million, expanding it from $60.6 million loss over the same time frame. Daqo’s net loss for the quarter widened to $180.2 million from $60.7 million.

Xu added, “On December 6, 2024, led by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA), our Company, along with other major solar PV manufacturers, have reached consensus that implementing self-discipline would be fundamental to mitigating the irrational competition amid falling prices and heightened global trade pressures.”

Meanwhile, the polysilicon producer continued expanding the share of n-type in its product mix from close to 40% of total production in 2023 to 70% in 2024.  

Daqo said it will further expand its higher-efficiency n-type technology share going forward, and opt for increased digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) for its operations. At the end of September 2024, Daqo’s annual nameplate production capacity stood at 305,000 MT.  

In Q1 2025, it aims to produce approximately 25,000 MT to 28,000 MT of polysilicon while it forecasts a range of 110,000 MT and 140,000 MT for the rest of the year.