After the price of silicon material increased 28 times, the three departments issued a document "regulation": to avoid vicious competition

　　Author: Lu Ruyi

　　On August 24, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the General Department of the National Energy Administration jointly issued a notice on promoting the coordinated development of the photovoltaic industry chain and supply chain.

　　The "Notice" proposes that the industrial layout should be optimized based on long-term goals.

Specifically, the business environment should be optimized, the market order should be regulated, various market players should be supported to participate in market competition on an equal footing, and various types of capital should be guided to reasonably participate in the photovoltaic industry according to the dual-carbon goal.

　　"The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's document gave a good warning on the 'crazy' influx of capital into the photovoltaic field, avoiding repeated investment, waste of resources and excess after investment in backward production capacity, adjusting and guiding capital to enter other real industries, and promoting economic development. In addition, It also gives a warning to all photovoltaic companies, while paying attention to the economic profits of enterprises, they should also pay attention to the win-win situation of the entire industry." A senior practitioner in the photovoltaic industry told Yicai.com.

　　"The current layout optimization, consumption, and coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries in the photovoltaic industry also require further overall arrangements." Dr. Hu Qimu, chief researcher of Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, said in an interview with the First Financial Reporter today, "From the industry From the perspective of layout, it is necessary to optimize the layout of the photovoltaic industry from the height of establishing a unified national market, break the market segmentation and local protection, and allow the full flow of resource elements to achieve efficient allocation of resources. From the perspective of the industrial chain, since the epidemic The price of raw materials in the upstream of the industrial chain has continued to rise sharply, which is not only the problem of insufficient start-up of raw materials, but also the factors of hoarding and speculation in the circulation. The excessive growth of upstream raw material prices is not conducive to the sustainable operation of photovoltaic enterprises, and it is necessary to promote the coordinated resumption of production in the industrial chain , In-depth cooperation between upstream and downstream entity enterprises, standardize the order of circulation, avoid blockages in the industrial chain and reduce operational efficiency.”

　　The "Notice" also proposes that the system connection should be strengthened and the whole-chain cooperation should be deepened.

　　Specifically, it is necessary to strengthen the reserve of new projects such as polysilicon, coordinate the handling of formalities, and steadily accelerate the release of production capacity and orderly expansion of production according to downstream demand.

Encourage in-depth cooperation between silicon material and silicon wafer enterprises, silicon wafers and batteries, modules and inverters, photovoltaic glass and other enterprises, module manufacturing and power generation investment, power station construction enterprises, and support enterprises through strategic alliances, signing long-term orders, technical cooperation, mutual Establish a long-term cooperation mechanism through equity participation and other methods to guide upstream and downstream to clarify volume and price, ensure supply, and stabilize expectations.

　　Due to the mismatch between supply and demand in the photovoltaic industry chain and the different rhythms of upstream and downstream expansion, the entire industry has been suffering from "sky-high" silicon materials for a long time.

　　According to the data of the Silicon Industry Branch of the Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the latest domestic single crystal re-feeding price has exceeded 310,000 yuan / ton. This price has increased by more than 253% compared with 87,600 yuan / ton at the beginning of 2021, once again hitting a record high. It is also the 28th price increase this year.

　　The soaring price of silicon material has directly led to the uneven distribution of profits in the whole industry chain.

　　According to the first financial reporter, Tongwei Co., Ltd. (600438.SH) and Daqo Energy (688303.SH), the upstream silicon material enterprises in the industrial chain, have tripled their net profit in the first half of the year. Another silicon material company, TBEA ( 600089.SH) also doubled its profit in the first half of the year, up 149% to 162% year-on-year.

　　Downstream companies are not so "lucky", and Tuori Xinneng (002218.SZ)'s half-year net profit in 2022 is expected to drop by 50%-65%.

"Affected by the rising prices of silicon materials and bulk commodities, the gross profit of the company's modules has decreased compared with the same period last year." Tuori Xinneng analyzed in the announcement.

　　Xia Jiaxi, vice president of Wuxi Sarcot New Energy Co., Ltd., said in an interview with a reporter from China Business News that our sales have doubled, but our profit margin has dropped by half.

This will make many companies reluctant to do production, too tired, and gross profit margins are too low.

　　In fact, it is not unfamiliar to enterprises to sign long-term orders and clarify the volume and price of upstream and downstream to establish a long-term cooperation mechanism.

　　The relevant person in charge of Trina Solar (688599.SH) recently said in an interview with the first financial reporter: "Photovoltaic module manufacturers naturally have the attributes that the front-end raw materials are spot, and the back-end is futures for customers. We can see a lot in the early stage. Module manufacturers sign long-term orders for six to nine months to set prices and quantities in advance.”

　　"But starting from 2021, prices in the upstream of the supply chain have been increasing. We have responded to this industry chain price fluctuations by quickly adjusting the structure of shipments and signing orders, which has almost reversed the ratio of long orders to short orders. Most of them are short orders and current orders to ensure profits, and the proportion of long orders will be relatively small." The person in charge told Yicai.com.