Recently, the "2021 Hengchang Burner • Hurun Rich List" has announced the results, looking at the list, there are two major companies in the glass manufacturing field that have entered the top 100 of the list - Xinyi Solar and Follett, ranking 80th and 100th respectively.
The outbreak of the photovoltaic industry has "made rich" the entire industrial chain, and in this dazzling chain, photovoltaic glass is an indispensable link. Therefore, in the manufacture of photovoltaic glass, Xinyi Solar Energy and Follett, which have been called "glass double males", are expected to enter the list of the richest people this time.
Lucid light energy
Xinyi Solar is the world's leading solar photovoltaic glass manufacturer, the company specializes in solar photovoltaic glass research and development, manufacturing, sales and after-sales service, for the world's major domestic and foreign solar module manufacturers to provide solar photovoltaic glass products. Xinyi Solar has four major solar photovoltaic glass production bases, located in Wuhu, Anhui, Tianjin, Guangxi Beihai and Malacca, Malaysia. At present, it has a solar photovoltaic glass production line with a total daily melting capacity of 13,800 tons, and its main products cover solar photovoltaic glass and backplane glass.
Image source: Xinyi Solar official website
High performance increase Capacity expansion
According to the semi-annual report released by Xinyi Solar, Xinyi Solar achieved revenue of HK$8.0749 billion in the first half of this year, an increase of 74.7% year-on-year; net profit of HK$3.0724 billion, an increase of 118.4% year-on-year. The strong business growth was mainly due to the increase in the Group's solar glass sales and higher average selling price in the first half of 2021.
According to the semi-annual report, although the downstream demand growth in the first half of 2021 is lower than expected, the Group will still focus on building its four solar glass production lines with a daily melting capacity of 1,000 tons per day in Wuhu, Anhui Province, and continue to implement the capacity expansion plan in 2021. Trial production of the first three production lines began in January, March and July 2021. In addition, 16 new solar glass production lines (with a daily melting capacity of 1,000 tons) are being prepared for construction, of which four new production lines in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province, and four new production lines in Wuhu, Anhui Province, are expected to be completed in 2022.
Portfolio optimization Efficiency improvement
According to the semi-annual report, in the first half of 2021, Xinyi Solar adopted a flexible marketing strategy, optimized its product portfolio to promote value-added products (thin glass and large-size glass), and implemented a solid cost control strategy. By adding new solar glass production lines and upgrading existing facilities, the Group further improved overall efficiency and productivity, while reducing production costs to a lower rate than raw material and energy prices.
Xinyi Solar said that the introduction of large-size photovoltaic modules is a key development in solar technology, which can further reduce the overall cost. More and more solar module companies are starting to mass-produce large-size photovoltaic panels. As a pioneer in the large-size glass market, the Group has directly benefited from this new trend.
Follett
Image source: Follett official website
Follett is a comprehensive medium and large enterprise integrating glass research and development, manufacturing, processing and sales, the main products involve solar photovoltaic glass, high-quality float glass, engineering glass, home glass four major areas, as well as the construction of solar photovoltaic power plants and quartzite mining, forming a relatively complete industrial chain.
Performance upwards Production capacity continues to expand
According to the 2021 semi-annual report released by Follett, the company achieved operating income of 4.028 billion yuan, an increase of 61.37% year-on-year; net profit of 1.261 billion yuan, an increase of 173.66% year-on-year. In addition, Follett mentioned in the semi-annual report that in the second half of 2021, with the decline in the price of the photovoltaic industry chain, the blessing of domestic favorable policies and the recovery of the global economy, the demand for the domestic terminal market is gradually improving, the overseas market demand continues to be strong, and the global photovoltaic power generation application market will continue to achieve strong growth in 2021 under the background of carbon neutrality.
Strong expansion is one of the main themes of the two major oligopolies of photovoltaic glass this year, in addition to the above mention of Xinyi Solar's capacity expansion, Follett also revealed the company's expansion plan at home and abroad in the semi-annual report.
The domestic capacity expansion is mainly the two 750,000 tons of photovoltaic glass production capacity projects in Anhui Phase II, including the photovoltaic glass production line with a daily melting capacity of 1200 tons, the first photovoltaic glass production line with a daily melting capacity of 1200 tons has been ignited and put into operation in the first quarter of 2021, and the second photovoltaic glass production line with a daily melting capacity of 1200 tons has been ignited and put into operation in the second quarter of 2021.
The overseas expansion is mainly due to the two photovoltaic glass kilns with a daily melting capacity of 1,000 tons at the Photovoltaic Glass Production Base in Haiphong, Vietnam, which have also been successfully ignited and put into operation at the end of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 respectively. Due to the booming PV industry as a whole and the increasingly different requirements of downstream customers for large sizes and thin glass, in addition to the above-disclosed expansion plans, Follett's other projects under construction are also steadily advancing.
Optimize product mix for sustainable development
In its semi-annual report, Follett revealed the company's business outlook and outlook. In the first half of 2021, the rapid rise in commodity, polysilicon and other raw materials and international sea freight prices has promoted the rise in photovoltaic module prices, making the demand for photovoltaic power generation terminal market sluggish; at the same time, in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first half of 2021, the new production capacity of the photovoltaic glass industry has been released, and the price of photovoltaic glass has been greatly reduced since March 2021. The downward revision of photovoltaic glass prices has affected the profitability of Follett's Solar Glass segment, especially in the second quarter of 2021.
However, the adjustment of photovoltaic glass prices has promoted the rapid increase in the demand for large-size, thin-sheet photovoltaic glass by downstream photovoltaic module companies. Therefore, by optimizing the product structure, Follett further promotes the marketing of the company's large-size, thin-sheet photovoltaic glass products and improves its operating performance. At the same time, Follett will accelerate the production of new photovoltaic glass production lines and the upgrading of existing photovoltaic glass production lines, increase the production ratio of thin glass and large-size glass, and ensure the company's sustainable development and competitiveness in the global photovoltaic glass market.
epilogue
The Matthew effect of the photovoltaic glass industry is significant, and it has maintained a high degree of concentration for a long time. In recent years, the top two in the photovoltaic glass industry have always been Xinyi Solar and Follett, and the production capacity of the duopoly has exceeded 50% of the industry. According to data, in 2020, Xinyi Solar's production capacity market share is 31.7%, and Follett's production capacity market share is 20.3%. Whether the situation of photovoltaic glass duopoly will be broken in the future, we look forward to it together!
References: Xinyi Solar official website, Xinyi Solar 2021 semi-annual report, Follett official website, Follett 2021 semi-annual report, new glass network, etc