China PV News Snippets: Trina Solar, Solar Exports

• Trina Solar's preliminary H1/2020 business results show growth in net profit on annual basis despite the pandemic
• LONGi Solar has announced increasing prices for its silicon wafers to be effective from August 2020
• Chinese PV exports in H1/2020 declined due to the pandemic spread in China and rest of the world but the industry expects demand to pick up in H2/2020
• Polysilicon demand and supply is getting more localized in China, but price decline of this product is likely to stabilize and may even

Trina Solar preliminary H1/2020 forecast: Trina Solar expects to report a higher net profit for the first 6 months of 2020 ranging between RMB 451 million to RMB 541 million ($64 million to $77 million), reflecting an increase of 216.37% to 279.51% over previous year. The Chinese PV manufacturer attributes this expected growth, despite COVID-19 pandemic, to increased sales of its solar PV products especially in the high-margin overseas region. Its global positioning and geographically diversified business model, the management said, helped it tackle the pandemic related impacts.

LONGi silicon wafer prices increase: LONGi has revealed the prices for its wafer products to come into effect from August 2020 onward. Monocrystalline silicon wafer P-type M6 175 μm thickness (166 mm-223 mm) is priced at RMB 2.73 ($0.39) per piece, an increase of 4.2% compared to RMB 2.62 ($0.37) per piece in July 2020. The latest price of monocrystalline silicon wafer P-type G1 175 μm thickness (158.75 mm-223 mm) is RMB 2.63 ($0.37) per piece, increasing from RMB 2.53 ($0.36) per piece in July 2020. G1 and M6 silicon wafers maintained a price difference of RMB 0.1 ($0.014) per piece. After many rounds of wafer prices does, this increase follows on a recent upswing of polysilicon prices.

Trina Solar & LONGi will present their latest module innovations and participate in an Executive Panel at the 500 W+ Solar Module Virtual Conference of TaiyangNews on July 29 & July 30, 2020. Registration to the virtual conference is for free here.

Chinese PV exports impacted by the pandemic: The Photovoltaic Branch of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products confirmed that due to COVID-19, the Chinese exports declined on an annual basis. In H1/2020, the export value of silicon wafers from China to the rest of the world added up to $879 million while that of solar cells was $504 million, for modules it was calculated at $6.249 billion, reflecting a 12% YoY decline. A contributing factor was also the decline in the prices of PV products, said Zhang Sen, Secretary-General of the branch.

Sen believes prices will fall further as the industry works to reduce costs and increase efficiency while there is more supply expected in the market as manufacturers accelerate their product expansion. The industry is optimistic about overseas demand to pick up in H2/2020.

Polysilicon demand getting localized: According to Silicon Industry Branch, polysilicon demand and supply is getting more localized in China as per the trends witnessed in the first half of 2020. Polaris Power Network reported that the industry expects things to get better in the next few months, especially from Q4/2020 onward as overseas markets recover from the pandemic and economic activity begins unabated. It also added that the price decline of polysilicon has stabilized and technological innovations as n-type silicon material, large-size silicon wafer and thickness reduction are contributing factors to the product getting better. Going forward, the analysts believe polysilicon demand will improve, leading to a rebound in its prices.