(Yicai Global) July 12 -- Shares in Shenzhen S.C New Energy Technology climbed as much as 3 percent today after the Chinese photovoltaic cell production equipment maker said that orders from the world’s second-largest solar panel manufacturer JA Solar Technology have been steadily climbing over the last few years and came to CNY4 billion (USD560 million) in the past 12 months.

S.C New Energy’s stock price [SHE:300724] was trading up 1.4 percent at CNY107.09 (USD15) as of 12.30 p.m. China time today. Earlier in the day it hit CNY108.76.

The order placed from July last year to yesterday amounted to 72.8 percent of S.C New Energy’s total revenue in 2022 the company said yesterday. However it would appear that S.C New Energy has yet to be paid the bulk of this as income from Shanghai-based JA Solar accounted for only 8.9 percent of revenue last year at CNY539 million (USD75 million).

The deal will have a positive on S.C New Energy’s performance and boost its future development, the Shenzhen-based firm added. No mention of the type of devices supplied nor the delivery timetable were given.

JA Solar’s orders have been climbing each year. In 2021, it bought CNY379 million (USD52.7 million) worth of solar production equipment, accounting for 7.5 percent of S.C New Energy’s revenue that year, and in 2020 it purchased CNY148 million worth, making up 3.6 percent of revenue, S.C New Energy said.

Makers of the equipment that produce PV cells are benefiting from a boom in the solar sector. For example, JA Solar’s annual PV panel production capacity rose to 50 gigawatts as of the end of last year, and its output of silicon wafers and batteries  increased to around 80 percent of that, according to its 2022 report said. Its module capacity is expected to surge 60 percent to 80 GW by the end of this year, while that of silicon wafers and batteries will increase to 90 percent of this.

S.C New Energy logged a 45.9 percent surge in net profit last year from the year before to CNY1 billion (USD139.1 million) while revenue soared 18.9 percent to CNY6 billion (USD834.7 million), according to its 2022 financial report.

Editor: Kim Taylor