Global solar cell module prices are expected to fall to US$1.1 per watt in the next few weeks as weak demand left excessive inventory, which posing a challenge for companies in the industry to eke out profits, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
The indicated decline would be sharper than the US$1.25 per watt the Taipei-based researcher -projected for the first quarter.
The latest quote showed that the price of solar cell modules would decrease 1.64 percent to average US$1.2 per watt this week from the last update on Friday, according to TrendForce’s latest update released yesterday.
“Solar module makers said they have not seen significant signs for a reversal [to recent slowdowns] as demand stagnates and inventory digestion is slow,” TrendForce said in the report.
TrendForce forecast last month that supply for solar capacity would grow to as much as 25 gigawatts this year, exceeding demand of more than 15 gigawatts mostly from Europe.
“Pricing pressure remains [for the near future],” TrendForce said, citing comments from unspecified solar module manufacturers.
TrendForce expected prices to stabilize in the second half of next month as demand could recover.
In addition, TrendForce expected drops in prices for polysilicon and solar wafers, key raw materials for making solar cells, would be mild because of supply constraints this year, meaning moderate price declines in raw material would not offset solar module makers’ price erosion.
Prices of polysilicon and solar wafers are expected to slide 3.98 percent and 1.37 percent to US$69.9 per kilogram and to US$3.6 per unit respectively, TrendForce said.
Shares of Taiwan’s top solar cell maker Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) fell 7.3 percent in the final quarter of last year, even though revenues grew 9 percent to NT$12.8 billion (US$432 million) from NT$1.17 billion in the third quarter.
The benchmark TAIEX gained 8.92 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS