(Yicai Global) April 26 -- First Applied Material, which supplies more than half of the world’s solar module packaging materials, plans to spend CNY549 million (USD 84 million) to expand its capacity to make photovoltaic film materials.

First aims to add 250 million square meters to its annual production capacity of photovoltaic encapsulation film, the Hangzhou-based company’s main product, it said yesterday. The products will be used mainly to package high-efficiency solar modules, the firm added.

First also said the project, which is aimed at consolidating its scale in the field, will take three years to build.

The company’s shares [SHA: 603806] ended 1.9 percent lower today at CNY81.82 (USD12.50) apiece, after earlier gaining as much as 3.1 percent. The wider Shanghai stock market also sank, dropping 1.4 percent.

First’s output of photovoltaic films has continuously expanded amid surging demand for installed solar capacity. It sold 968 million sqm of solar film last year, earning CNY11.5 billion (USD1.76 billion) in part revenue, up 52 percent from a year earlier.

That accounted for about 89 percent of total annual revenue, with a gross profit margin of about 26 percent, the company’s 2021 earnings report showed.

At First’s earnings press conference earlier this month, General Manager Zhou Guangda said the firm would strive to increase its solar film production capacity by 300 million to 400 million sqm this year, with annual capacity reaching 1.6 billion to 1.7 billion sqm by year-end.

Editor: Peter Thomas