According to EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, demand for PV self-consumption continues to increase in Europe due to the decreased FiT and the increased electricity price and surcharge fees for grid-connection. Besides, the installation area for roof-top systems is somewhat limited, thus relevant users mostly pay more attention on the amount of electricity generated. This, along with concerns toward visual and aesthetic quality, has caused demand for mono-si cells to increase significantly.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the highest price for the mainstream 4GB modules has reached $US 34 due to the supply shortages resulting from SK Hynix’s fire accident and the continuous contract price uptrend. The price represents an estimated 6.25% increase compared to the amount observed in September. Calculating on the basis of the aforementioned figure, the 4Gb chip price translates to approximately $US 3.94, which is close to the $US 4 mark, and only 8% lower than the highest 4Gb chip price in the spot market ($US 4.25). By the time the contract prices are announced in 2H’October, it is expected that the difference between the contract price and spot price will grow smaller.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the market transactions were sluggish in 1H'October due to the underwhelming Chinese holiday sales and the conservative attitude displayed towards the market situation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. While SK Hynix's Wuxi plant fire accident prompted some manufacturers to allocate portions of their NAND Flash capacity to DRAM, the mainstream NAND Flash contract prices have stayed mostly flat throughout1H'October.
