The growth rate of Vietnam’s GDP in 2017 was about 6.8%, a relatively high level in Southeast Asia. Vietnam’s economy has been increasing rapidly for many years, but wages of the manufacturing are still at a low level, which were less than 50% in China and far below that of the developed countries in 2017.

According to CRI, as Vietnam’s economy develops and the living standards of residents rise, the demand for steel in the industries such as construction, automobiles and home appliances is also going up. The rapid development of steel demand has attracted many steel enterprises to build new steel capacity in Vietnam. Overall, Vietnam’s steel industry is still growing and the homemade steel cannot meet the needs of the domestic market. In 2017, the production volume of crude steel in Vietnam reached 10.3 million tons, representing a CAGR of 16.5% from 2013 to 2017. However, the demand for steel in the domestic market approached 20 million tons. Therefore, it is estimated to take 3-5 years before the steel production can basically satisfy the market demand.

Based on CRI’s analysis, seeing the huge potential of the steel market in Vietnam and even Southeast Asia, many enterprises have invested in Vietnam’s steel industry in recent years. The largest investment case is Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS), which is a joint venture by Formosa Plastic Group, China Steel Corporation and Japan’s JFE Holdings, with a first-phase investment of more than USD 10 billion. Due to the rapid increase in production capacity of the steel industry in recent years, the supply of some types of steel in Vietnam has exceeded the demand, including concrete iron or steel for construction, cold-rolled steel coil products, etc. In order to reduce large quantities of imports such as hot-rolled steel coils and electromagnetic steel sheets, the Vietnam government is actively attracting foreign investors to establish positions in the country.

CRI analyzes that there are more than 100 companies in Vietnam’s steel industry, of which the larger ones include Hoa Phat Steel, Hoa Sen Steel, Vietnam Steel Corporation, SMC Steel Company Limited, VSC – POSCO STEEL CORPORATION (VPS), Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS) and so on.

At present, the government has not formulated nationwide policies for foreign investment in the steel industry. However, steel companies have been set up in many industrial parks in Vietnam, which are granted with preferential policies in taxation and other aspects.

In addition, as Vietnam’s manufacturing and construction industries develop rapidly, the demand for steel will continue to increase. It is estimated that, during 2018-2022, Vietnam’s roads, airports and other infrastructure, housing construction, automobile, home appliances and other industries will all maintain a high growth rate. On the whole, most of the domestic steel manufacturers are extremely low in production capacity (no more than 1 million tons a year), with the outdated equipment. Foreign-funded enterprises have seen great market prospects in investing in the steel industry of Vietnam, especially to establish one-stop businesses from the production of crude steel to the processing of various kinds of steel. For one thing, these steel enterprises can market in Vietnam. For another, they can export products to the Southeast Asian market with a total population of nearly 700 million, and even to the Asia-Pacific market with a population of more than 2 billion.

CRI considers that the Vietnam steel market will become one of the fastest growing markets in the world from 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, the CAGR of production volume of crude steel is projected to exceed 20%. By 2022, Vietnam will become a net exporter of steel.

Topics:

– Economic Environment of Vietnam Steel Market

– Policy Environment of Foreign Investment in Vietnam Steel Industry

– Analysis on Labor Costs in Vietnam

– Analysis on Supply and Demand of Steel in Vietnam

– Analysis on Import and Export of Steel in Vietnam

– Analysis on Competition of Vietnam Steel Market

– Analysis on Major Steel Manufacturers in Vietnam

– Driving Forces and Market Opportunities in Vietnam Steel Industry, 2018-2022

– Threats and Challenges Faced by Vietnam Steel Industry, 2018-2022

– Forecast on Investment and Development of Vietnam Steel Industry, 2018-2022

The post Research Report on Vietnam Steel Industry, 2018-2022 first appeared on CRI Report.

The production volume of China’s polysilicon reached 242,000 tons in 2017, representing a CAGR of 70.0% from 2007 to 2017. The newly installed photovoltaic bases in China reached 53 GW in 2017, ranking first in the world for five consecutive years. Besides, the total installed capacity amounted to 130 GW, taking the first place for three consecutive years. Production scales of every link in the domestic industry chain all took over 50% of the global total and continued to be leading in the world.

The export value of photovoltaic products, including wafer, cell, module and inverter, totaled USD 15.777 billion in 2017, increasing by 5.3% YOY. The export value of wafer, cell, module and photovoltaic inverter was respectively USD 2.968 billion, USD 0.797 billion, USD 10.61 billion and USD 1.402 billion, with a respective YOY increase of 14.4%, 17.39%, -1.2% and 46.3%. In addition, the export volume respectively reached 4.404 billion, 3.36 GW, 30 GW and 15.92 million units.

According to CRI, solar grade polysilicon is the main raw material for crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. On top of this, there were 22 polysilicon enterprises in normal production by 2017, with the effective capacity totaling 280,000 tons, up by 70,000 tons over 2016. Among them, major manufacturers include GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc., TBEA Co., Ltd., Daqo New Energy Corp., etc. Also, by the end of 2017, the aggregate capacity of 10 enterprises, each of which exceeded 10,000 tons, accounted for more than 70% of the country’s total.

Since 2011, Ministry of Commerce of the PRC has made a series of anti-dumping investigations on imported polysilicon, thereby restraining the imports to some extent and promoting the local polysilicon industry. In 2017, the production volume of polysilicon in the world amounted to 436,000 tons, of which China made up about 55.5%. However, China still imported 159,000 tons of polysilicon, with an import dependency of 39.8%. With the continuous expansion of the domestic polysilicon production capacity, the proportion of imports is expected to decline gradually.

CRI analyzes that with the advancement of technology in recent years, both the utilization efficiency of polysilicon and the photoelectric conversion efficiency have risen continuously. Relevant statistics show that in 2017, to produce 224 W silicon wafer needed 1 kg silicon materials. As technology develops in 2018 (especially with the progress of slicing technology) and monocrystalline silicon is more widely applied in the photovoltaic industry, 1 kg silicon materials can produce 280 W silicon wafer. In 2017, the production volume of silicon wafer equivalent to the capacity of modules was 87.6 GW; while in 2018, the production volume of polysilicon is projected to reach 400,000 tons, and that of silicon wafer equivalent to the capacity of modules will amount to 112 GW. It is predicted that the total demand for photovoltaic modules in the global market will be 110 GW in 2018, and the capacity of China’s polysilicon will even surpass the global demand.

Based on CRI’s analysis, the main driving force for the growth of China’s polysilicon market in the next few years is still the demand from the photovoltaic industry, where the increase in domestic demand and exports is equally important. It is estimated that the emerging photovoltaic market will grow rapidly in the next few years. Among them, the installation demand mainly comes from Asia and America, and the market is also opening in Middle East and Africa.

CRI predicts that the demand for polysilicon in the Chinese market still has large room to increase. Although the production of polysilicon can gradually meet the domestic demand, monocrystalline silicon has been popular since 2016, which needs to be made of high-quality polysilicon raw materials. Concerned about the quality of domestic polysilicon, Chinese manufacturers of single wafer still import high-purity one from Germany and South Korea. It is forecasted that China will import over 100,000 tons of polysilicon a year from 2018 to 2022.

Selling Points:

– Economy and Policy Environment Faced by China Polysilicon Industry

– Development Status of Photovoltaic Industry

– Anti-dumping Measures of Chinese Government against Imported Polysilicon

– Supply and Demand of Polysilicon in China

– Polysilicon Import and Export in China, 2013-2017

– Market Competition of Polysilicon in China

– Price Trend of Polysilicon in China

– Major Polysilicon Manufacturers in China

– Driving Forces and Market Opportunities in Polysilicon Industry

– Risks and Challenges Faced by Polysilicon Industry

– Development Trend of China Polysilicon Industry

The post Research Report on China’s Solar Polysilicon Industry, 2018-2022 first appeared on CRI Report.