As PV Tech previously reported, Taiwan’s solar industry supply chain failed to recover lost revenue in 2017, despite strong global demand growth and expectation that installations topped 100GW.
The majority of Taiwanese solar industry companies that are public listed on the TSE have recently reported December, 2017 sales figures, highlighting how elusive the recovery in sales has been in 2017.
Taiwan-based materials suppliers are benefiting from increased demand for diamond wire cut wafers for higher efficiency solar cells that is supporting higher prices in recent months.
Although profitability for many remains elusive sales have rebounded in September.
A basket of publicly-listed solar cell and module manufacturers on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) continued to experience a recovery in sales in June as China reaches a peak in utility-scale projects under the 2017 feed-in tariff and benefit from fears over the US ITC ‘Section 201’ case and the potential impact of higher module duties in 2018.
After several months of lacklustre sales from many key PV manufacturers in Taiwan, indicating an expected boom in China’s downstream PV market had yet to gain momentum, March sales data indicates improving market demand, yet not at the levels seen in the prior year quarter.
Many key PV manufacturers in Taiwan are still reporting monthly sales in February, 2017 that are well below the levels set in the first half of 2016, due primarily to the expected boom in China’s downstream PV market, which has yet to take hold.
Key Taiwan-based PV manufacturers have reported December, 2016 sales and indicated fourth quarter and full-year sales figures, which were primarily impacted by a slump in demand in the second half of the year.
Taiwan-based solar cell and wafer producers had been impacted by a major slowdown in PV project development in China in the third quarter of 2016. However, signs of a recovery emerged at the beginning of the fourth quarter and escalated further in November.
Key Taiwan-based wafer producers Green Energy Technology (GET), Sino-American Silicon (SAS) and Danen Technology delivered mixed sales results for September, 2016, yet the underlining trend remained weak demand and ASP pressures.
