Some solar industry firms hesitated to sign contracts

Some suppliers indicate that according to the post of Taiwan solar battery firms in the second half of 2010, many of them vigorously seek opportunities for offering silicon wafer because of expectation that supply of wafer will fall short of its demand. Therefore, in order to avoid coming into the shortage of raw materials, many firms need to amplify capacity through seeking more sources of materials. On the other hand, some battery firms are conservative about 2011 and remain fewer orders. Some leading wafer companies imply that as the result of continuous shortage of silicon wafer in addition to bounce back of battery firms, they do not want to take any more orders in case of getting in the tight corner. It was learnt that orders of Taiwan solar wafer has surged 20~30 percent in comparison with present capacity implying some firms are able to receive more orders and sign new contracts. In addition, the capacity of silicon wafer is satisfied in the first two months of 2011 but in order to fit in battery firms, it drops slightly in sales which are not forceful as expected so that a few battery firms show deficit in the first month of 2011. Most industry insiders of China mainland hold that by the third month of 2011, the price of silicon wafer will climb resulted from rare sales from suppliers. The related integrated circuit is SRF7043.