China module prices held steady this week as market players weighed the challenge of raising prices against increasing upstream costs.
The Chinese Module Marker (CMM), the OPIS benchmark assessment for modules from China, stayed at $0.163/W. TOPCon module prices likewise remained at $0.170/W.
While the market eyes rising prices in the upstream segments, most manufacturers are taking a wait-and-see approach, according to OPIS’ market survey. Mono M10 cell prices increased 1.73% this week to $0.0939/W. The cell segment has the lowest inventory level across the whole supply chain, meaning cell prices could increase further, a source said.
Yet hiking module prices is challenging as the market deals with oversupply and intense rivalry among sellers, concurred multiple sources. Numerous recent low price bids for China projects from vertically integrated players have eroded the breathing room for manufacturers who only make modules and lack the advantage of low production costs, according to a source.
International markets are similarly gloomy as they sit on significant module inventories. Due to the backlog from this year’s first and second quarters, one maker stopped replenishing its European warehouses this June, a source at the firm said. Echoing the sentiment, another source said regions like Europe and South America “do not simply have the conditions for price increases due to the enormous backlogs of modules.”
According to the production schedule of module makers. China is expected to produce roughly 47 GW of modules in August, according to one source. Module makers could cut manufacturing if cell prices continue to rise, the source added.
OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides energy prices, news, data, and analysis on gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG/NGL, coal, metals, and chemicals, as well as renewable fuels and environmental commodities. It acquired pricing data assets from Singapore Solar Exchange in 2022 and now publishes the OPIS APAC Solar Weekly Report.
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