In 2023, the prices of the entire photovoltaic industry chain have significantly decreased, and the net profit of the leading photovoltaic enterprise, Tongwei Co., Ltd., has decreased by nearly 50%. However, the shipment of silicon materials and batteries still ranks first in the world.
On the evening of April 29th, the leading photovoltaic enterprise Tongwei Co., Ltd. (600438. SH) released its annual report for 2023.
The report shows that the company achieved a revenue of 139.04 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 2.33%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of 13.574 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 47.25%.
“Due to the increase in product sales scale not fully covering the impact of the significant price decline in the photovoltaic industry chain, and actively promoting technological changes in the photovoltaic industry, the company has complied with market development trends and, based on the principle of prudence, made provisions for impairment of assets mainly related to PERC batteries.” Tongwei Shares stated in its financial report.
Yan Ke, the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Tongwei Group, stated at tonight’s performance briefing that “last year, prices in the four links of the industrial chain decreased by 45% to 80%. The company’s fixed asset impairment amounted to 5 billion yuan, mainly for the impairment or scrapping of the PERC battery production line. As of the end of 2023, the company’s book value of the PERC production capacity has been basically processed, making it easier for the company to carry on light equipment in the future. The company expects Topcon to account for about 80% of the total this year.”
Overall, in 2023, Tongwei Group’s high-purity crystalline silicon and solar cell product shipments continued to rank first in the world, while photovoltaic module shipments entered the top five globally (according to InfoLink Consulting statistics).
Among them, the production capacity of high-purity crystalline silicon achieved sales of 387200 tons, a year-on-year increase of 50.79%, and the global market share exceeded 25%. The sales volume of photovoltaic cells was 80.66GW (including self use), a year-on-year increase of 68.11%. The annual sales of photovoltaic modules reached 31.11GW, a year-on-year increase of 292.08%.
In terms of silicon material business, in 2023, Tongwei Group has a production capacity of 450000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon and an under construction capacity of 400000 tons.
“Last year, the average production cost of the company’s high-purity crystalline silicon products dropped to below 42000 yuan/ton, significantly leading the industry average level.” Tongwei Shares stated that the company’s high-purity crystalline silicon business still achieved a net profit of over 45000 yuan per ton in 2023, despite the impact of a significant decrease in product prices.
It is reported that Tongwei Group advanced the construction of 200000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon projects in Yunnan and 200000 tons in Inner Mongolia last year. The Yunnan project is expected to start production in the second quarter of this year, and the 200000 ton project in Inner Mongolia is expected to start production in the third quarter of this year. At that time, the company’s high-purity crystalline silicon production capacity will reach 850000 tons.
Overall, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, the domestic production of high-purity crystalline silicon exceeded 1.43 million tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 66.9%. According to the statistics of the Silicon Industry Branch, the average price of single crystal dense materials has decreased from 176200 yuan/ton at the beginning of the year to 58300 yuan/ton at the end of the year, a decrease of 66.91%.
Tongwei Group also stated that it is expected to gradually complete the transformation of approximately 38GW of PERC production capacity in 2024, and add 16GW and 25GW of TNC battery production capacity in Meishan and Shuangliu bases respectively. It is expected that the company’s TNC battery production capacity will exceed 100GW by the end of 2024.
It is worth noting that as a leading enterprise in photovoltaic silicon materials and battery cells, 2023 is the first full operating year for Tongwei Group after announcing its cross-border photovoltaic module business. In 2023, Tongwei Group achieved a sales volume of 31.11GW of photovoltaic modules, a year-on-year increase of 292.08%, and its shipment volume entered the top five globally (according to InfoLink Consulting data).
The reporter noticed that at the end of 2023, the average selling prices of the four main links in the photovoltaic industry chain, including high-purity crystalline silicon, silicon wafers, batteries, and photovoltaic modules, decreased by 80%, 58%, 60%, and 45% respectively compared to the beginning of the year. In the fourth quarter, the prices of silicon wafers, batteries, and modules hit historic lows.
“Under the strong driving force of terminal demand and the continuous release of new production capacity, each link in the photovoltaic main industry chain has achieved a significant increase in production.” Tongwei Shares stated in its annual report that with the intensification of industry chain competition and the rapid decline in prices, the trend of survival of the fittest is obvious. For example, some enterprises are the first to experience operating losses, and the survival space of small and medium-sized enterprises will be further compressed.