The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said this week that wafer prices dropped by up to 5.6% compared to a week earlier. Wafer manufacturer Longi, meanwhile, said that the price downward trend reached the bottom in late June, with demand now beginning to grow.

The Silicon Branch of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) has released average selling prices for wafers based on data coming from major suppliers such as Longi, TCL Zhonghuan, Shuangliang, and JinkoSolar among others. The association said n-type wafers are now priced at CNY2.84 ($0.39) per piece, down 5.65% compared to a week earlier. Furthermore, manufacturers are now offering p-type M10 wafers at CNY2.75 per piece, down 0.73% over the previous week, while G12 wafers are sold at CNY3.97 per piece, down 7.67% compared to a week earlier.

Meanwhile, Longi announced it reduced the price of its p-type M10 wafers with a thickness of 150um by 32.72% to CNY2.93 per piece compared to a month earlier. In a conference with investors, the manufacturer released an optimistic outlook for the second half of 2023. “Since May, PV product prices fluctuate sharply and some end customers are having a wait-and-see strategy, which had a short-term impact on the market,” the company said in response to an investor's question. “In late June, however, the price drop reached the bottom, and the demand began to grow again.”