(Yicai Global) July 25 -- Shares of Shuangliang Eco-Energy System dropped despite the firm’s North China production base signing a contract with a new client to supply an estimated CNY9.09 billion (USD1.35 billion) of solar wafers over three years.

Shuangliang [SHA: 600481] ended 6.7 percent lower today at CNY16.55 (USD4.25). The stock is still up more than 60 percent since the end of April, due to strong demand for its products, after closing at an all-time high of CNY19.56 on July 21.

Shuangliang Silicon Materials Baotou, based in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has signed a supply deal with Chint Solar and its four subsidiaries, the unit’s parent company said late on July 22. Under the agreement, it will supply 950 million monocrystalline silicon wafers to the buyer through 2024.

This is the second major order for Shuangliang Silicon Materials in a week, after it earlier announced that it had reached a CNY3.02 billion agreement with HuaSun Energy. The company has now signed long-term orders for silicon wafers with 11 clients since last September, amounting to an estimated CNY90 billion based on market prices.

The large-size wafer plant in Inner Mongolia, in which Shuangliang has invested CNY14 billion since February last year, began operating in the second half of last year and is expected to reach capacity next year. Shuangliang Silicon Materials is the project’s builder and operator.

Due to rising wafer prices, output and strong demand for processing equipment, Shuangliang Eco-Energy forecast early this month that first-half net profit would come in at between CNY320 million and CNY390 million (USD47.4 million and USD57.8 million), up 212 percent to 281 percent from a year earlier.

That means six-month profit already exceeded last year’s total of CNY310 million, the Jiangyin-based company said.

Editor: Peter Thomas