Glass Weekly: Demand recovery is slow and market trend is weak (20250227 issue)

01Industry News of the Week
"Saint-Gobain and Maltha Join Hands"
Recently, European glass recycling company Maltha has made a major breakthrough in a pilot project with Saint-Gobain, successfully converting 75 tons of recycled solar panel glass into flat glass.

The collaboration aims to convert solar panel glass into flat glass. Maltha officials said the achievement is an important milestone in the development of sustainable recycling solutions for solar panels, laying the foundation for promoting a circular economy and reducing environmental impact.

Kevin Bell, president of Maltha, pointed out that the success of the pilot project fully demonstrated the huge potential of solar panel recycling. He said he was proud to work with Saint-Gobain and other partners to put the circular economy into action. By converting scrapped solar panels into precious raw materials for flat glass production, it is a strong proof that there is a sustainable solution to the key link of energy transformation.

With millions of solar panels expected to enter the European market in 2030, it is urgent to find effective ways to manage the life cycle of solar panels. Against this background, the Photorama project funded by the European Union came into being to meet this challenge. The project brings together 13 European partners to build a comprehensive recycling chain for scrapped solar panels, focusing on recovering valuable raw materials and reintegrating them into the manufacturing process of new panels.

Officials stressed that the success of the pilot project highlights the feasibility of recycling solar panels in a circular economy model and opens up a sustainable development path for the management of scrapped materials. This is not only a technological breakthrough, but also an active exploration of the coordinated development of energy and environment in the future, and is expected to provide a reference for the recycling of solar panels around the world.

"Heavy! Another photovoltaic giant plans to go public in Hong Kong!" It is reported that on February 22, JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. (JA Solar Technology, 002459.SZ) announced that the company plans to issue overseas listed foreign shares (H shares) and apply for listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Limited.

According to the indicative announcement released by JA Solar Technology, the company has held the 34th meeting of the 6th Board of Directors and the 19th meeting of the 6th Supervisory Board, and reviewed and approved the proposal and related plans on the company's issuance of H shares and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At present, JA Solar is actively discussing the relevant work of this issuance and listing with relevant intermediaries, but the specific details have not yet been finalized.

According to the data, JA Solar was founded in 2000 and is one of the old leading companies in my country's photovoltaic industry. It was listed on the Nasdaq in the United States in 2007. After privatization and delisting from the US stock market, it successfully returned to the domestic capital market in 2019 and successfully completed the A-share listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with the stock code 002459. After more than 20 years of development, JA Solar has leapt into the world's top photovoltaic power generation solution provider and achieved vertical integration of the entire photovoltaic industry chain.

So far, the company has established multiple production bases around the world and has 13 overseas sales companies. Its products and services have spread to 187 countries and regions around the world. In terms of photovoltaic modules, its module shipments have ranked among the top in the world for many years. According to the latest 2024 photovoltaic module shipment rankings, JA Solar ranks second in the world, second only to JinkoSolar. In terms of technological innovation, JA Solar's Bycium+ n-type high-efficiency monocrystalline cell technology is one of its core innovative achievements in the photovoltaic field. At present, the conversion efficiency of Bycium+ n-type high-efficiency monocrystalline cells has reached 26.8%, which is in the leading position in the industry. Based on Bycium+ cell technology, the company launched the DeepBlue 4.0 Pro series of components, which achieved high power, low BOS cost and high reliability from raw material cost savings to system-side, and are widely used in the global photovoltaic market. In addition, the company is also actively developing cutting-edge technologies such as BC and perovskite. As of now, JA Solar has obtained a total of 1,827 valid patents, of which invention patents account for as high as 53.4%.

"Intelligent Effect! Yaoxing Glass's 16 million connections leverage 180 million orders"
In the wave of "intelligent transformation and digital transformation", traditional manufacturing is performing a "transformation". Guozhuang Town empowers industrial upgrading with technological transformation and promotes enterprises in the area to move towards "intelligence". Jiangsu Yaoxing Safety Glass Co., Ltd. has achieved a "triple jump" in production capacity in just two years through the intelligent manufacturing innovation of "intelligent production, automated equipment, and digital management", and has accelerated the transformation of traditional enterprises.

Let us walk into this provincial-level intelligent manufacturing workshop and decode the intelligent code of "old trees sprouting new branches". Walking into the production workshop of Yaoxing Glass, a brand-new intelligent production line is presented in front of us.

Wu Qihao, general manager of the company, introduced that the production line uses fully automated equipment, and unmanned operation is achieved from raw sheet cutting, edging, cleaning to tempering and coating. Wu Qihao, general manager of Jiangsu Yaoxing Safety Glass Co., Ltd.: "What you are seeing now is the second automatic production line we invested in 2024 last year, with a total investment of 16 million yuan, and the final finishing stage, that is, the automatic unloading behind the production line."

Wu Qihao told reporters that compared with the first production line, this new production line has added 8 robotic arms in the unloading link, which further improves the efficiency of automatic unloading. At the same time, the intelligent production line also has strong data analysis capabilities. Through the intelligent control system, the production line can monitor the equipment operation status, product quality and production progress in real time, and automatically adjust parameters according to data feedback. Thanks to the stability and efficiency of the production process, the company can now mass-produce large-size all-steel glass of 3 meters by 7 meters, which was previously impossible to produce.

02 Float glass market analysis
2.1. Float glass market analysis
This week, the overall trend of the domestic 5mm float glass market showed a weak trend, and prices generally fell, with an adjustment range of -60 yuan/ton to -10 yuan/ton. Specifically, the price in Central China has dropped significantly, down 60 yuan/ton to 1240 yuan/ton, demand continues to be weak, glass companies have poor shipments, and inventory has further accumulated; the price of 5mm large plates in East China has dropped 40 yuan/ton to 1430 yuan/ton, market demand is weak, production and sales are weak; prices in North China have also dropped, down 10 yuan/ton to 1270 yuan/ton, and the overall market atmosphere is flat; prices in Shahe area have dropped by 28 yuan/ton, 5mm large plates have dropped to 1168 yuan/ton, and small plates have also dropped by 28 yuan/ton to 1108 yuan/ton, and market transactions are still not active; prices in other regions remain stable, and the overall market remains relatively stable.

Overall, the float glass market continues to face a situation of strong supply and weak demand this week, demand has recovered slowly, and market sentiment is relatively low. Although some manufacturers have flexibly adjusted prices for promotions, the overall market transaction is still weak, and the inventory level is high, so it is difficult for prices to obtain effective support.

It is expected that the market will continue to fluctuate in the short term, and the price fluctuation space is limited. The market needs to pay attention to the resumption of work in processing plants and expected changes at the macro level.

In terms of futures, the price of glass futures was mainly weak and downward this week. The main reason is still that the resumption of work after the holiday is relatively weak. The actual demand cannot take over the large amount of midstream inventory. The market is under pressure to go down, and the midstream supply forces manufacturers to cut prices to form negative feedback. In the short term, although the fundamentals of glass have improved compared with the previous period, the market selling pressure is strong under the premise of insufficient short-term demand. The subsequent waiting for demand recovery to digest the midstream inventory is mainly.

2.2. Comparison of float glass market prices

03 Statistics of float glass production profits this week
3.1. Profits of float glass production
As of February 27 this week, the profit of petroleum coke as fuel was 102.60 yuan/ton, a decrease of 40.05 yuan/ton from the previous month; the profit of natural gas as fuel was -93.75 yuan/ton, a decrease of 11.45 yuan/ton from the previous month; the profit of coal as fuel was 98.60 yuan/ton, a decrease of 10.8 yuan/ton from the previous month; the profit of glass fluctuated slightly during the week, the downstream demand for replenishment was general, and the production and sales in some regions were weak.

3.2. Trend of float glass production profits

04 Changes in float glass enterprise equipment maintenance and output this week
4.1. Dynamics of float glass enterprise equipment and operation status
This week, the weekly operation rate of float glass was 76.10%, a decrease of 0.32% from the previous month. Some production lines of float glass were switched during the week, and the operation rate decreased slightly compared with last week.

4.2. Weekly output of float glass enterprises
This week, after eliminating the zombie production lines, there were a total of 286 domestic glass production lines, of which 223 were in production, and the output of float glass was 1.0895 million tons, a decrease of 0.08% month-on-month. The output changed little during the week, and decreased by 1,000 tons compared with last week.

05 Statistics of float glass inventory this week
This week, the total inventory of float glass manufacturers was 67.135 million heavy boxes, and 65.5591 million heavy boxes last week, an increase of 157.59 heavy boxes from the previous month, a rate of 3.02%; downstream demand was weak, the pace of procurement slowed down, and some manufacturers mainly accumulated inventory, and the overall inventory continued to accumulate.

06 Analysis of upstream and downstream industries of float glass
6.1. Analysis of soda ash market this week
This week, the domestic soda ash market price rose slightly, and the market sentiment eased. As of Thursday this week, the mainstream price of light soda ash remained at 1,400-1,700 yuan/ton, and the price of heavy soda ash was 1,500-1,800 yuan/ton.

Recently, some factories have stopped for maintenance and reduced operation, and the supply in some areas has been reduced, but some soda ash enterprises have increased their production, and the overall market production is still at a high level; the atmosphere in the downstream glass industry is slightly weak, and market procurement has slowed down to a certain extent. The purchase of float glass market is moderate, and there is no significant increase in volume. The demand for soda ash from factories continues to be stable; photovoltaic glass is in a slump, factory profits are slowly declining, and factory purchases are showing price pressure.

Overall, with the announcement of the maintenance plan of soda ash equipment in some regions, the ex-factory prices of some soda ash enterprises have increased by 20-100 yuan/ton, and the price center of gravity has moved up; the purchase of downstream glass market for replenishment at the end of the month has been carried out one after another, and the stocking is mainly for just-needed purchases, and the intention to take goods in the futures and spot is high, and the overall market shows a stable upward trend.

6.2. Real estate industry statistics
In December 2024, the construction area of ​​houses by real estate developers nationwide reached 72.3309 million square meters, a month-on-month increase of 35.09% and a year-on-year increase of 3.04%; the completed housing area reached 255.9129 million square meters, a sharp increase of 315.66% month-on-month, of which the completed area of ​​commercial housing was 185.4365 million square meters.

During the same period, the newly started area of ​​real estate was 65.8456 million square meters, and new home sales achieved positive growth.

Overall, under the guidance of the goal of "stabilizing the property market", the policy further clarified the direction of "continuously pushing the real estate market to stop falling and stabilize"; the activity of property market transactions increased significantly in December, indicating that signs of stabilization in the real estate market are gradually emerging.

The overall market is showing an adjustment trend, helping to build a new model for real estate development. At present, market participants are paying close attention to the implementation effect of policy implementation and its long-term impact on the market, and expect it to inject continuous momentum into the industry.