How is the recent fiberglass market? --China Jushi replied like this

Overview of production and operation in the first quarter and the outlook for product demand and price recovery?

In the first quarter, the industry continued to hover at low prices due to increased production capacity and sluggish demand since the third quarter of 2022. From January to February this year, the overall demand was not strong and the market competition was fierce, resulting in a decline in the prices of glass fiber roving and electronic cloth.

The market situation improved in March, and the chain was restored, and the sales structure was more comprehensive and reasonable. Wind power yarns took the lead in getting on the right track. Orders have increased since February. Sales of wind power yarns have increased significantly year-on-year in the first quarter. Thermoplastic chopped strands have also recovered significantly. Orders for home appliances and automobiles have increased.

In terms of Electronic and Electrical Field, due to the impact of the macro and the industry in the first quarter, the market demand showed a trend of rising and falling compared with the fourth quarter of last year. Among the downstream terminal demand, orders for servers and new energy vehicles were flat. The increase in electronic cloth inventories has led to increased price pressure. The year-on-year recovery of domestic sales is relatively obvious, but the price increase mainly depends on changes in demand.

How has the production cost changed this year?

The cost of energy in manufacturing costs, especially natural gas, has declined slightly. Natural gas prices in the United States, Egypt, and Tongxiang began to decline to varying degrees in March, and the pressure on the cost side has eased compared with 2022.

Haiding Glass Fiber has further reduced the production consumption per unit of product by increasing the proportion of intelligent production lines, technological innovation, and management innovation, and continues to maintain a relative cost competitive advantage in the industry for 3-5 years or more.

The export situation of glass fiber products in the first quarter and the export trend of products this year?

The main export areas are the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. In the first quarter, exports accounted for nearly 50%, and the proportion of exports and export sales has returned to the pre-epidemic level. It is expected that exports will account for about 35-45% this year.

The price of ECR roving; with the development of offshore wind power, is there any change in the amount of glass fiber installed per GW?

Wind power yarn products are long-term orders, and the price fluctuations are small. From the perspective of absolute market size, the proportion of sea breeze is not high. At present, some carbon fibers are only used on ultra-long blades. Most of Landwind's blades are 5-6MW, mainly made of glass fiber. Therefore, from the perspective of the total amount of single GW, the amount of glass fiber has not changed fundamentally.

Application of glass fiber in photovoltaic frame?

The amount of glass fiber used in the photovoltaic field is very large, but there is a process for a new product to replace traditional products. From the perspective of the existing industrial chain processing links, the production capacity and output are currently not high.

Composite frames have obvious advantages in terms of performance, light weight, cost, and use in offshore environments, but the actual promotion and application will require a relatively long process, and this year is mainly market-oriented verification. If all or large quantities of glass fiber composite materials are used for photovoltaic frames in the future, the demand for glass fiber will be very large.