In 2016, China's polysilicon imports exceeded 140,000 tons, a record high

According to the latest customs statistics, in 2016, China's cumulative imports of polysilicon reached 141,022 tons, a significant increase of 20.
6%
year-on-year.
The average monthly import volume was 11,752 tons, and the import volume exceeded 10,000 tons in ten single months of the year, of which polysilicon imports reached a record high of 14,449 tons in December, an increase of 6.
4% month-on-month and 38.
3%
year-on-year.

According to analysis, the main reasons for China's polysilicon imports to remain high throughout 2016 are:

First, imports from South Korea have repeatedly hit record highs
.
In 2016, the cumulative import of polysilicon from South Korea was 70,090 tons, a significant increase of 36.
9% year-on-year, accounting for 49.
7% of the total cumulative imports, ranking first
in imports.
Among them, imports from South Korea reached 8,366 tons in November, accounting for an unprecedented 61.
6%
of total imports.
November's monthly imports from South Korea were close to October's total imports, and South Korea's exports increased sharply at the end of the year, on the one hand, because the downstream demand in November warmed up compared with October, and the demand for imported materials increased, so the backlog of inventory of Korean polysilicon factories before October due to weak demand poured into the domestic market
in November.
On the other hand, South Korean polysilicon plants were affected by the mid-term review of Korean polysilicon and exported a large amount of production and inventory to the Chinese market before the
ruling.

Second, imports from the United States according to processing trade have not decreased, and the total import volume is now increasing
.
In 2016, 5,635 tons of polysilicon were imported from the United States, a year-on-year decrease of 57.
6%, of which 5,094 tons were imported according to processing trade, accounting for 90.
4%, of which 89.
9%
were entered through "bonded zone warehousing".
Imports from the US increased to 1,417 tonnes in December 2016, up 93.
3%
month-on-month.
Since July 2015, due to the strict implementation of the "double-reverse" tax rate and the "suspension of processing trade measures" in the United States, polysilicon exports to China have been blocked, and the proportion of monthly imports from the United States has plummeted, as low as 0.
1%, but since November, affected by changes in trade relations, imports have increased slightly, and increased again to 9.
8%
in December.

At present, China's main polysilicon import areas are mainly South Korea, Germany, the United States, Taiwan, data show that in 2016, from South Korea, Germany, the United States, Taiwan these four import areas imported 124,940 tons, accounting for 88.
6% of the total imports, imports accounted for 49.
7%, 25.
3%, 4.
0%, 9.
6%, South Korea ranked first and accounted for a huge
proportion.
This shows that due to the low anti-dumping duty of 2.
4% and the gradual release of new production capacity in South Korea, almost all of South Korea's production has entered the Chinese market
.

From the perspective of average import prices, the average import price in 2016 was 16.
45 US dollars / kg, a year-on-year decrease of 8.
2%.

This is mainly due to the fact that the average monthly import prices from the United States, South Korea and Germany have repeatedly hit record lows, of which Germany has fallen the most, and the average price of polysilicon imported from Germany in 2016 fell by 22.
6%
year-on-year.
Import prices in the United States and South Korea hit record lows in October, causing the average import price of the month to also hit a new low, falling to a record low of $13.
63/kg, down 16.
0%
month-on-month.
From November to December, polysilicon prices in the United States and South Korea rebounded, so the average price
of the whole year gradually increased.
The annual average price of the United States was 33.
85 yuan/kg, up 85.
9% year-on-year, and the average monthly price of imports from South Korea was 14.
66 US dollars/kg, down 9.
9%
year-on-year.