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PT_BR 
According to a survey carried out by the global consultancy Bernreuter Research, based on Chinese customs statistics, after a temporary increase in 2021, the Polysilicon imports to China fall again in 2022.
The data showed that imports of raw materials for solar cells registered a drop of 23%, from 114,203 MT (metric tons) in 2021 to 88,093 MT in 2022.
“Following the severe shortage of polysilicon in 2021, the rise of new production capacities in China has already left its mark on import volumes in 2022,” said Johannes Bernreuter, polysilicon market expert at Bernreuter Research.
Using preliminary production estimates, the analyst put the country's share of global solar-grade polysilicon production at 88% last year, up from 82% in 2021 and 55% in 2017.
According to the company, compared to the peak of 158,918 MT in 2017, China's annual polysilicon imports have almost halved. “They are now close to the 2012 level when they reached 82,760 MT.”
Resulting decline in Japanese imports
The report further indicated that the sharp decline in 2022 was seen in imports from Japan. In 2021, Japanese solar module producer Sharp offloaded large volumes of polysilicon inventory after the company's long-term purchase agreement with Hemlock Semiconductor expired. in 2020.
This pushed Japan's imports to a record 15,431 MT in 2021, thus filling the supply gap in China. In 2022, however, imports fell by 60% to 6,129 MT.
A similar development has occurred in Taiwan, where former solar wafer producers are still selling polysilicon stocks that have long-term contracts to China. Taiwan's imports fell by 50% from 6,899 MT in 2021 to 3,480 MT.
Furthermore, Bernreuter reported that the Malaysian polysilicon subsidiary of South Korean chemicals group OCI exported significantly less to China – volumes fell by 23% from 29,727 MT to 22,944 MT. This, however, was mainly due to longer than expected maintenance work at the OCI factory in the spring.
Imports from Germany and USA
Another point emphasized by the research is that imports from Wacker, in Germany, the largest foreign supplier of polysilicon to China, decreased by 6.3% from 51,316 MT to 48,070 MT.
North American Hemlock Semiconductor, which is affected by high Chinese anti-dumping duties, reduced its volumes from 4,811 MT to 2,785 MT.
“In the case of Wacker and Hemlock, the reason for the decline must be sought outside of China. Both polysilicon manufacturers have concluded sales agreements with Jinko Solar. The manufacturer has started a new wafer fab with an annual production capacity of 7 GW in Vietnam in early 2022,” they reported.
According to Bernreuter, Trina Solar is the next major Chinese producer of photovoltaic modules that will open a wafer factory in Vietnam.
“With the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act banning products from Xinjiang and the anti-circumvention ruling against modules made with Chinese wafers in Southeast Asia, the US is driving demand for panels made from polysilicon and wafers not sourced from China.” , explained Bernreuter.
“At the same time, polysilicon imports to China will shrink further due to the huge expansion of domestic capacity. Consequently, the future of non-Chinese polysilicon raw material is outside the country,” he highlighted.
