Under the extremely refined demand and cost-effectiveness advantages, fine tungsten wire is entering the photovoltaic diamond wire market by replacing carbon steel wire. At present, top tungsten wire manufacturers have started small-scale shipments of fine tungsten wire diamond wires, gradually waiting for market validation. However, top tungsten companies have expressed good demand for fine tungsten wires and are increasing production.

When replacing with fine tungsten wire

Diamond wire is mainly used for cutting hard materials in the industry by uniformly fixing diamond powder particles with a certain distribution density on high-strength busbars. Its core downstream is the cutting of photovoltaic silicon wafers.

According to the statistics of the Photovoltaic Industry Association, the national silicon wafer production in 2021 is about 227GW, and it is expected that the national silicon wafer production will exceed 293GW by 2022. According to the standard that a single GW consumes about 400000 kilometers of diamond wire, the market demand for diamond wire in 2022 will exceed 100 million kilometers. "When discussing the demand for diamond wire market, Gaoce Co., Ltd. (688556. SH) replied to investors.

It is reported that the diamond thread industry has experienced a round of small enterprise elimination, and currently there are approximately 7-8 enterprises in the upper scale. Faced with the rapidly growing demand for photovoltaics, major manufacturers such as Daile New Materials (300700. SZ) and Meichang Co., Ltd. (300861. SZ) have all stated in their announcements that "the current orders are relatively full". The current production capacity of Daile New Materials has increased from 200000 kilometers/month in the same period last year to 1 million kilometers/month. However, the company still stated that there is still some gap between this capacity and the total demand of a single customer. Currently, the company's monthly production is basically full, and the demand for subsequent capacity improvement or expansion is becoming increasingly prominent.

The busbars in diamond wires are mostly made of carbon steel wire, but there is a research table detailing that tungsten wire can replace carbon steel wire. Daile New Materials once stated in institutional research that replacing carbon steel wire with fine tungsten wire is mainly to solve the problem of fine wire, and the tungsten wire substrate performs better in terms of rigidity and other aspects than carbon steel materials during the cutting process. According to its announcement, Daile New Materials has supplied a small batch of diamond wires made of tungsten wire as the busbar in February this year.

Behind the refinement is the demand for cost reduction. According to a research report from Debang Securities, fine wire can save unit silicon material, and the breaking force of diamond wire is directly proportional to the wire diameter and tensile strength. Currently, the diameter of high carbon steel wire (busbar) is approaching its limit. Tungsten wire has stronger tensile strength and can make the wire diameter finer under the same breaking force.

A person from the securities department of China Tungsten High tech (000567. SZ) told the Associated Press that due to the limitations of equivalent cutting strength and toughness, carbon steel wire can reach 40% μ Below m, it is quite close to the limit, while the mainstream of tungsten wire is currently 36 μ m-38 μ m. It is possible to achieve even finer results in the future.

In addition, there is a possibility of the fine tungsten wire being reused. A person from Daile New Materials Securities told Cailian News that currently, carbon steel wire and diamond wire are mostly disposable, but fine tungsten wire can be reused. China Tungsten High tech has also stated in institutional research that in monocrystalline silicon production, the service life of wire ropes made of steel wire is only 2-4 times, while wire ropes made of tungsten wire can reach more than 40 times.

Large scale infiltration still needs time

The above-mentioned personnel from China Tungsten High tech told the Cailian News Agency that there is currently a high demand for fine tungsten wire used for diamond wire, but the market supply is limited. "Basically, if the quantity is produced, it will be digested by the market. A person from the securities department of Xiamen Tungsten Industry (600549. SH) also told the Cailian News Agency that there is currently a good demand for fine tungsten wire.

The industry's production capacity is also increasing. China Tungsten High tech plans to increase the annual production capacity of 10 billion meters of fine tungsten wire for expansion and transformation. After the project is completed, the new production capacity will be used for high-strength tungsten wire in the photovoltaic industry, accelerating the replacement of cutting wire in the photovoltaic industry. The company announcement shows that the project has started construction, with a preliminary estimated construction period of 9 months. Prior to this, Xiamen Tungsten Industry announced on January 28th this year the construction of a 60 billion meter photovoltaic tungsten wire production line project, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023. Daile New Materials also stated in institutional research that the main companies in China that can produce tungsten wires are China Tungsten and Xiamen Tungsten, and some companies are now starting to supply them in small quantities.