Production costs to cap traditional China silicon price slide during rainy season - sources

The approaching rainy season in southern China usually signals the start of a downtrend in the Chinese silicon price because of more availability of hydroelectricity to power operations, yet the price is unlikely to reach last year's low, according to market participants.

In China, the main 553 silicon production hubs are in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. It is traditional for refineries in Sichuan and Yunnan to curtail or suspend production during the country's dry season - between November and May - and resume production in the rainy season, when they can take advantage of cheaper hydro-powered electricity charges.
The restart of operations and resulting ample supply during the rainy season usually undermines China's silicon price.
This price weakness was more pronounced during last year's rainy season, when Fastmarkets' price assessment for silicon export 98.5% Si min, fob China plummeted to lowest point of the year at $1,310-1,380 per tonne on July 3, down by 18% from a peak of $1,620-1,660 per tonne on February 28.

The price was most recently assessed at...

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