From: Xinhua Finance

Xinhua Finance, Beijing, July 15 (Reporter Yan Peng) Recently, the price of silicon materials has gradually stopped falling and remained stable, especially the rebound of N-type silicon materials, coinciding with the smooth commissioning and full production of the 100000-ton high-purity polysilicon project in Inner Mongolia (688303.SH), China's polysilicon leader, Daquan Energy, which has once again attracted the attention of all parties in the market.

with years of technological accumulation in the field of high-purity polysilicon, daqo energy, in addition to firmly grasping the advantages in the field of n-type silicon, is also horizontally expanding molten silicon in the 12-inch wafer manufacturing area. the first phase of the 1000-ton semiconductor-grade polysilicon project is about to be put into production. At the same time, Daquan Energy continues to enable the production of high-purity polysilicon with the help of information technology. Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia bases have already realized "digital manufacturing" and are striving to transform to "intelligent manufacturing", making it more and more effective as a benchmark for star enterprises in the industry.

the demand for n-type silicon material in full production operation is expected to be released intensively

Since November 2022, silicon prices have shown a downward trend and then entered a sharp rise and fall mode. Since July this year, as the market supply and demand relationship has improved, the overall price of silicon materials has stopped falling and remained stable, especially N-type silicon materials have rebounded.

Statistics from the Silicon Branch of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association show that in the past week, the price range of domestic N-type materials was 7.2-80000 yuan/ton, with an average transaction price of 74200 yuan/ton, with a week-on-week increase of 0.68. The price range of single crystal dense materials is 6.00-74000 yuan/ton, and the average transaction price is 65700 yuan/ton, which is the same week-on-week.

Chen jiahui, an analyst at the silicon branch, believes that, on the one hand, some enterprises have signed the bill until the end of the month, polysilicon inventory is close to a reasonable level at this stage, and the early inventory is transferred to the downstream. On the other hand, the production capacity of N-type batteries began to be released in the third quarter, driving the demand for N-type silicon materials, resulting in a shortage of high-quality materials in some enterprises. In the long run, there are signs of improvement in the relationship between supply and demand, so it is expected that the price of polysilicon will remain stable.

As the P-type battery approaches the theoretical limit conversion efficiency, the N-type battery with higher conversion efficiency becomes the first choice. In 2022, N-type batteries, especially TOPCON and heterojunction batteries, have been rapidly developed. In the process of transforming silicon wafers, batteries, and components from P to N-type, downstream procurement not only pays attention to the cost performance of polysilicon, but also puts forward higher requirements for product quality.

At present, Daqo Energy's N-type silicon material has been supplied in batches and has been verified by downstream mainstream customers. Recently, Daquan Energy's 100000-ton high-purity polysilicon project in Inner Mongolia Phase I has also successfully reached production, with its production capacity jumping to 205000 tons and is in full production. In addition, Daquan Energy's Phase II 100000-ton polysilicon project in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of this year, when Daquan Energy's nominal production capacity will reach 305000 tons.

Huang Lin, an analyst at Huachuang Securities Electric New Industry, said that after the price of the silicon industry chain bottomed out, it is expected to stimulate the concentrated release of demand. The price reduction of silicon materials will gradually be transmitted downstream, the cost pressure of each link will be released, and the yield of the terminal power station project will be increased. Due to the price reduction of pessimistic expectations and wait-and-see sentiment is expected to gradually repair, installed demand or will be concentrated release, the third quarter of the photovoltaic industry is expected to usher in the peak season, production is expected to be significantly improved. N-type TOPCon products are in short supply and dividends are expected to be maintained for a longer period of time.

at the 2022 performance presentation meeting of daqo energy, the relevant person in charge of daqo energy said that based on the urgency of global response to climate change and energy change, the consensus reached by countries to reach carbon peaks and carbon neutrality in response to climate change, the national policy of China's green, sustainable and high-quality development and the promotion of photovoltaic-related policies, as well as the economy of photovoltaic development brought about by affordable internet access, one thing is certain, even if (silicon price) fluctuates in the short term, we have full confidence in the long-term development of the photovoltaic industry.

Targeting high-end semiconductor-grade polysilicon to be put into production soon

Semiconductor grade polysilicon is the key raw material for the production of semiconductor silicon wafers, and semiconductor silicon wafers are the key material for integrated circuits. The purity of semiconductor polysilicon generally needs to reach the 9N-11N standard, and the process technology requirements for removing impurities from silicon materials are almost harsh. Looking at the world, there are not many enterprises that have reached the level of technology.

Five years ago, Daqo Energy began to lay out semiconductor-grade polysilicon products and set its breakthrough target at the highest end of the industry. After years of hard work in the field of semiconductor-grade silicon, Daqo Energy is about to usher in the harvest of new business.

Daquan Energy stated on the investor interaction platform that the company plans 21000 tons of semiconductor-grade silicon in Inner Mongolia. The first phase of the 1000-ton semiconductor-grade polysilicon project is currently under orderly construction and is expected to be put into production in the third quarter of this year. After the project is put into production, the product needs to be demonstrated by downstream customers.

it is worth mentioning that, unlike xinhua semiconductor and yellow river hydropower, which start with 6-inch silicon for industrial devices and then gradually move towards 8-inch and 12-inch silicon, daqo energy's semiconductor and silicon material production line is aimed at zone melt grade silicon material made from 12-inch wafers. After the certification of downstream integrated circuit manufacturing customers, Daqo Energy will choose the opportunity to implement the next 20000 tons of capacity construction.

Industry insiders believe that at present, my country's semiconductor-grade polysilicon supply mainly depends on imports, which has also become one of the key links restricting the overall development of my country's integrated circuit industry. In the future, with the change of information technology to intelligent society, the large-scale development of integrated circuits in China urgently needs to establish a safe, stable and efficient domestic supply chain system.

Intelligent Manufacturing Makes High Purity Polysilicon Production Improve Quality and Efficiency

It is the consensus of the current society to drive the change of production mode, lifestyle and governance mode with digital transformation as a whole. Daqo Energy is well versed in the characteristics of the polysilicon industry, and has made an early and in-depth analysis of the needs and breakthroughs of digital transformation, and launched the "Digital Manufacturing Project" in November 2019, sounding the clarion call for digital transformation.

It is understood that the core of digital transformation and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises lies in the field of production and manufacturing. The production process of polysilicon industry not only needs to carry out overall management of the production of large chemical devices, but also needs to carry out fine management of finished product batches and quality data. The process parameters in the production process are complex and there are many equipment and devices, which puts forward higher requirements for digital transformation.

daquan energy combines the industrial characteristics of polysilicon production, collects massive operation data of production equipment through internet of things technology, establishes the digital twin model of the whole plant, and carries out real-time monitoring and analysis of the whole life cycle of polysilicon production in the whole plant. at the same time, it applies industrial internet, big data algorithm and other technologies to model and analyze massive production process data, manufacturing data and equipment data, promote the implementation of polysilicon production and manufacturing mode based on the optimal production model of quality and cost, ensure the continuous, stable, high-quality and efficient production of each production device, and finally realize the transformation and development to "digital manufacturing", and build a leading edge in the industry.

It is precisely by virtue of digitalization, automation, and intelligent management. On the one hand, Daquan Energy can reduce labor costs on a large scale, strictly control the procurement process, reduce procurement costs, improve production processes, and reduce raw materials and energy unit consumption; on the other hand, plus With continuous R & D investment and technological innovation, the quality indicators of polysilicon products provided have reached the international advanced level.

public data show that the sales cost of polysilicon in Daquan Energy will drop significantly from 75.21 yuan/kg to 58.48 yuan/kg in 2022, and the unit cost will drop to 53.45 yuan/kg again in the first quarter of 2023. The company's cost and expenses have been at a low level in the industry for a long time. More than 99% of Daquan Energy's products reach the electronic level 3, and more than 90% of its products reach the electronic level 1, far exceed the requirements of the national standard for solar grade polysilicon premium products, and is at the forefront of the industry.

Daquan Energy said that the company will continue to move forward along the route of scale, specialization and differentiation, with digitalization, automation and intelligent management as the link, cost, quality and production capacity as the starting point, focusing on the R & D, production and sales of high-purity silicon materials. Through the vertical integration of raw materials industrial silicon, the horizontal integration of semiconductor silicon and silicone, strengthen the core competitive advantage, and improve the cost performance of existing polysilicon products in the short term; long-term integration of technology and team experience and skills continue to quickly develop high-quality, Low-cost, new products to meet market demand.

Editor: Zhang Yao