Recently, Ningxia Dun yuan Juxin Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. announced that it plans to raise 1.3 billion yuan, of which 156 million yuan will be used for the quartz crucible production line project.
Meanwhile, on July 17, Inner Mongolia Oujing Science and Technology also issued a prospectus to raise no more than 470 million yuan for the construction of Ningxia quartz crucible project and supplementary liquidity project. What on earth is a
quartz crucible? Today, let's listen to Xiaobian to talk to you.
Quartz crucible, as a necessary quartz container for the production of silicon single crystal, plays an important role in the photovoltaic industry . Each furnace of monocrystalline silicon production requires the use of a quartz crucible. Because monocrystalline silicon is the main raw material for the production of large-scale integrated circuits and solar cells, the requirements for quartz crucibles are very stringent. With the rapid development of the domestic photovoltaic power generation industry, the use of quartz crucibles has increased rapidly, and the demand for the specifications, varieties and quantities of large-size quartz crucibles has also undergone tremendous changes
. A senior industry insider said: "At present, quartz crucibles are in short supply, which has affected the production of silicon wafers." Industry data show that the price of quartz crucible in early 2023 is 20000 yuan per piece, up 25% annually, which is about four times higher than that in early 2022. Analysts point out that quartz crucibles may become the primary limitation of photovoltaic capacity in 2023.
So, what aspects are restricting the development of quartz crucible industry nowadays?
The first is the technical aspect. Semiconductor and photovoltaic industries have continuously improved the requirements for product precision, and put forward higher standards for the purity and accuracy of quartz crucibles. However, China's quartz products industry started late, and only a few large-scale enterprises have reached the advanced level of quartz crucible technology. New enterprises need long-term testing and continuous upgrading to develop products that meet the actual needs of customers, and the cost of research and development is quite high. In the actual use process, the quartz crucible requires high quality stability, once problems occur, it may lead to the failure of crystal pulling, feeding and scrapping, thus facing the risk of claims. Technological change is also a challenge in the industry, and enterprises must adapt to changes in downstream demand in a timely manner to maintain competitive advantage.
In addition to technology, scale is also a difficulty for the quartz crucible industry. Large-scale silicon wafer manufacturing enterprises usually tend to choose enterprises with a certain scale of production to provide recycling services for consumables and accessories, which makes small-scale enterprises limited and difficult to meet the requirements of large-scale manufacturing enterprises.
Capital barriers are also a major challenge for the quartz crucible industry. From purchasing R & D to production, every link needs a lot of money to ensure the normal operation of the company. The purchase of high-purity quartz sand, the construction of high-purity production workshop and automated production plant all require a large amount of start-up funds. However, in the early stage of development, enterprises often face the lack of funds and the limitation of financing channels, which makes new enterprises face certain obstacles.
Finally, in fact, the most important bottleneck of quartz crucible industry comes from its raw materials. Quartz crucible is mainly produced by electric arc method, and the core raw material is high-purity quartz sand. The main suppliers of upstream high-purity quartz sand raw materials include Unimin of the United States, TQC of Norway and Quartz Co. According to the prospectus of Oujing Science and Technology, high-purity quartz sand accounts for 62% of the cost of quartz crucible, which is the most important cost component. At present, there is a big gap in the supply of raw materials and it is difficult to alleviate in the short term.
At present, the market competition pattern of quartz crucible is relatively simple, a few enterprises occupy a higher share, and other enterprises are small in scale. However, with the continuous development of the industry, new opportunities and challenges will follow. Nowadays, the main enterprises of quartz crucible are Oujing Technology, Jiangyin Longyuan and Ningxia Jinglong, and their basic introduction and production capacity are as follows.
It is estimated that the original production capacity of several leading quartz crucibles in the industry will basically meet the demand in 2021, while the supply will be in short supply in 2022. With the continuous expansion of downstream demand, major crucible manufacturers are also accelerating the expansion of production this year. According to the analysis of brokerage institutions, the head crucible company will benefit from the increase in the unit price of the crucible in 2023.
Generally speaking, as an important part of the photovoltaic industry, the development prospects of quartz crucible have attracted much attention. Faced with technology, scale and capital barriers, enterprises need to constantly innovate and actively adapt to changes in the industry to ensure that they maintain competitive advantage in the fierce market competition. The future of the photovoltaic industry is full of opportunities and challenges. Let's wait and see and witness the brilliant moment of quartz crucible in the photovoltaic industry.
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