Our reporters Zhang Yingying and Wu Kezhong report from Beijing.
Known as "Xiaolongi", Hongyuan Green Energy is gradually moving away on the road of promoting the integrated production capacity layout.
The reporter of China Business News noted that on the basis of photovoltaic equipment and silicon wafer business, Hongyuan Green Energy's business has covered equipment, industrial silicon, polysilicon, silicon wafers, cells, modules and power stations in less than two years, becoming one of the photovoltaic enterprises with the longest chain in the photovoltaic industry.
According to the N-type photovoltaic industry chain capacity plan revealed by Hongyuan Green Energy at the Wuxi New Energy Exhibition, that is, 150,000 tons of industrial silicon, 100,000 tons of polysilicon, 75GW of silicon wafers, 45GW of N-type cells, 35GW of TOPCON modules, and 11 power stations will be built5gw。Hongyuan Green Energy also said that it has put into production 80,000 tons of high-purity industrial silicon, 60,000 tons of polysilicon, 35GW of silicon wafers, 19GW of cells, and 21GW of modules.
Recently, a person from the first department of Hongyuan Green Energy said that the current production capacity of industrial silicon, polysilicon, cells and modules is still in the climbing stage. The power plant business is also in the initial stage of development.
It is reported that in the first three quarters of 2023, Hongyuan Green Energy's industrial silicon, polysilicon, cell, and module business entities are still in the loss stage, which has brought a certain negative impact on Hongyuan Green Energy's performance. In the "2022 Prospectus for the Issuance of A Shares to Specific Targets" (hereinafter referred to as the "Prospectus") released in November 2023, Hongyuan Green Energy stated that with the successive release of production capacity, these businesses are expected to gradually turn losses into profits and further increase the company's operating performance.
The gradual release of Hongyuan Green Energy's new production capacity is at a time when the entire photovoltaic industry is overcapacity. Therefore, can Hongyuan Green Energy continue to maintain its competitiveness after the transformation?
Integrated layout from equipment manufacturing to power plant end
Hongyuan Green Energy has been involved in the photovoltaic industry since 2004, engaged in the manufacture of photovoltaic special equipment, and entered the silicon wafer link in 2019 and continues to expand the production capacity of silicon wafers. 2020 In 2022, the compound growth rate of the company's operating income will be 16975%。
In 2022, Hongyuan Green Energy conformed to the trend of photovoltaic integration and quickly started a large-scale vertical integration layout, that is, extending to the upstream polysilicon and industrial silicon production links and the downstream cells, photovoltaic modules and power stations, forming a complete industrial chain system.
In February 2022, Hongyuan Green Energy announced that it would invest in the construction of a project with an annual output of 150,000 tons of high-purity industrial silicon and 100,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon. The first phase has a design capacity of 80,000 tons of high-purity industrial silicon project and 50,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon project.
It is worth mentioning that, on the one hand, Hongyuan Green Energy has built a polysilicon production project to achieve self-supply of raw materialsOn the other hand, as early as 2021, it participated in the construction of granular silicon projects to ensure multi-channel polysilicon**.
In August 2022, Hongyuan Green Energy announced again that it would invest in the construction of Xuzhou New Energy Industrial Park, including investment in a production project with an annual output of 24GW of N-type high-efficiency crystalline silicon cells. In February 2023, Hongyuan Green Energy further announced that it will invest in a project with an annual output of 16GW of photovoltaic modules, and the first phase of the construction of 5GW photovoltaic modules.
So far, Hongyuan Green Energy has formed an industrial chain system of vertically integrated manufacturing of industrial silicon, polysilicon, silicon wafers, cells and modules.
According to the manual, the wholly-owned subsidiary project of Hongyuan Green Energy's non-silicon wafer segment has been put into operation this year. Among them, the construction of Hongyuan Energy's industrial silicon and high-purity crystalline silicon related projects was launched in April 2022 and has been put into operation in August 2023The construction of cell-related projects in Hongyuan Xuzhou started in August 2022 and has been put into operation in June 2023The construction of Hongyuan Solar's module-related projects started in March 2023 and has been put into operation in August 2023.
It is worth noting that Hongyuan Green Energy has also further deployed in the direction of power stations through equity participation to open up the market for the module business.
In 2023, Hongyuan Green Energy will take a stake in Xuzhou Guoyuan Energy***, whose main business direction is photovoltaic power stations and distributed energy facility construction. From the perspective of the shareholders of Xuzhou Guoyuan Energy, State Power Investment Zero Carbon Energy (Nanjing) holds 51% of the shares, and Wuxi Hongyuan New Energy Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hongyuan Green Energy, holds 49% of the shares. Tianyancha shows that Zero Carbon Energy (Nanjing)** has a state-owned background.
Hongyuan Green Energy said that Xuzhou Guoyuan Energy belongs to the downstream enterprises of the company's module business, and investing in the company is conducive to the application layout and market expansion of the company's module business.
Building a deep vertical integration capacity is inseparable from the support of funds.
Previously, Hongyuan Green Energy announced that in 2022, it will issue A-shares to specific targets to raise funds, including "annual output of 50,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon project" and "supplementary liquidity project", totaling 58$1.9 billion. On November 22, the fundraising plan was further adjusted, and the total amount of funds raised was adjusted to 2.7 billion yuan, and the "supplementary liquidity project" was cut.
As for the reason for the adjustment, the above-mentioned ** person said, "adjusted according to the actual needs of the company". Whether it is related to the tightening environment for refinancing, the person said it is "not clear".
Thickening the performance geometry
Although Hongyuan Green Energy continues to promote the integrated layout of the industrial chain, its main business company is still in the loss stage in the first three quarters of 2023 because the related business is still in the cultivation period.
According to the data of the manual, in January and September 2023, Hongyuan Energy lost 8895790,000 yuan, Hongyuan Xuzhou lost 2799340,000 yuan, Hongyuan Solar lost 4576110,000 yuan.
This will also have a certain impact on the performance of Hongyuan Green Energy in the first three quarters of 2023. Hongyuan Green Energy said that because these business entities were put into operation in June and August 2023, the production time was short, which had a certain negative impact on the company's current performance. The above-mentioned business entities are involved in cell, high-purity crystalline silicon, module and other businesses, which are currently in the stage of capacity ramp-up, and with the successive release of production capacity, these businesses are expected to gradually turn losses into profits and further increase the company's operating performance.
According to the financial report, in January and September 2023, Hongyuan Green Energy achieved an operating income of 957.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4523%；Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company131.8 billion yuan, down 5343%。
Regarding the decline in the performance of Hongyuan Green Energy in the first three quarters of 2023, in fact, in addition to the negative impact of the above-mentioned unprofitable integrated new production capacity, the changes in the main business silicon wafer market are the main reasons affecting the performance.
In 2022, Hongyuan Green Energy's photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon (i.e., silicon wafer link) business revenue accounted for more than 90%, which is the company's main revenue and profit**. However, in the first three quarters of 2023, due to the large fluctuations in the polysilicon market, the production, sales and unit price of Hongyuan Green Energy's silicon wafer products have declined, and the gross profit has declined accordingly.
The reporter noticed that in January and September 2023, Hongyuan Green Energy's monocrystalline silicon products showed a decline in volume and price. According to the data of the "Manual", in January and September 2023, the average sales price of Hongyuan Green Energy monocrystalline silicon was 21720,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3480%。In January and September 2023, the sales volume of monocrystalline silicon of Hongyuan Green Energy reached 4250,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1857%。
From the perspective of capacity utilization, in January and September 2023, the capacity utilization rate of Hongyuan Green Energy's monocrystalline silicon was 7262%, compared with the overall capacity utilization rate of more than 85% in 2020 and 2022.
Hongyuan Green Energy said that with the slowdown of the volatility of the polysilicon and wafer market, the company's polysilicon and modules and other related new businesses continue to develop, and it is expected that the decline in the company's operating performance will be effectively controlled, and the profitability will gradually increase.
It is worth mentioning that at present, all links of the entire photovoltaic industry chain have entered the adjustment stage, and under the risk of overcapacity, the competition has become more intense, and it will also go through a process of clearing production capacity. It is undeniable that in the future, after the transformation, Hongyuan Green Energy will not only continue to make efforts in the silicon wafer sector, but also quickly catch up in the cell and module sectors, and join the battle of integrated enterprise competition.
Wang Jian, Director of TrendForce's New Energy Business Unit, said at the Forum on the Pattern and Development Trend of the Photovoltaic Storage Industry held on November 30 that the future competition in the PV industry chain will rise from the profit competition of a single business to the comprehensive competition of the strategic layout of enterprises, which will test the overall competitiveness of enterprises in core areas and the decision-making power in terms of strategy. The trend of vertical integration is the essential law of the market, and it is also the inevitable trend of industrial upgrading, and the final industrial pattern has been basically determined, and the future vertical integration leader will be more competitive in channels, brands, scale and cost.
Editor: Dong Shuguang Proofreader: Liu Jun).