IHS Solar (El Segundo, California, U.S.) has released a new analysis which finds that polysilicon spot market activity in December 2012 accounted for only 20% of total sales, which it says supports its prediction that the ongoing fall in polysilicon prices will soon end.

"IHS Solar Polysilicon Price Index" finds that the share of spot market sales peaked at 47% in May 2012, which the company associates with an "acute state of oversupply". Polysilicon prices fell to an average of USD 20 per kg at the end of 2012, from USD 31 per kg in February 2012, but IHS predicts that prices will begin increasing in February 2013.

"As IHS predicted in November, solar polysilicon pricing in early 2013 is nearing the end of its long, 24-month decline," said IHS Director and Principal Photovoltaics Analyst Dr. Henning Wicht.

"The drop in spot market volume, along with a range of other indicators, suggest that the price plunge that hamstrung polysilicon supplier profits throughout 2012 will soon come to an end."

IHS deduces from the fall in spot market volume that suppliers are reducing production, led by Tier 1 suppliers. IHS notes that it predicted this trend in an advisory issued in September 2012.

2013-02-14 | Courtesy: IHS Solar | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

Our editorial selection of breaking solar news is published at:
www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/top-solar-news.html