(Yicai) March 30 -- Leading Chinese manufacturers of solar modules have raised the prices of their products, as China is lifting the 9 percent rebates on the export value-added tax for photovoltaic products.

Trina Solar has increased its official guidance prices for distributors three times this year. They have reached 89 to 93 Chinese cents per watt for 620W-650W medium-format and 715W-745W large-format modules, up between 8.1 percent and 8.5 percent from January.

China announced in January that it will eliminate the 9 percent VAT export rebates for solar products, including modules, cells, inverters, and components, effective April 1. Industry insiders believe that this, coupled with rising upstream raw material costs, will lead manufacturers to hike prices by about 6 to 7 Chinese cents per watt.

Jinko Solar raised prices of its scenario-specific special-process products, including its Tiger Neo 3.0 tunnel oxide passivated contact PV modules, which have an output of over 650W, at the beginning of this month. The average increase is around 30 percent to 40 percent from the lowest price.

The price hikes were mainly driven by surging silver prices, which put downstream manufacturers under collective pressure, a representative from a leading Chinese integrated module firm told Yicai, adding that their company adjusts capacity flexibly based on market conditions.

However, upward adjustments in corporate guidance prices have not fully translated into actual market price increases.

In centralized application scenarios, TOPCon solar modules’ actual delivery prices are 68 to 70 Chinese cents per watt, and those in the distribution market are 76 to 83 Chinese cents per watt, both significantly lower than leading companies’ guidance quotes, according to statistics from InfoLink Consulting.

Even though large manufacturers have raised prices, the market has not yet followed suit, InfoLink said. Given the current market situation, it will likely be difficult to have a full-scale implementation.

Previously accumulated low-price inventory held by distributors has been basically cleared, and actual ex-factory prices are rising, especially those of mainstream high-power modules, a Chinese PV module distributor told Yicai.

Distributors were barely receiving any orders for products quoted at 88 to 90 Chinese yuan per watt before, so they mostly delivered low-price inventory between December and January, the above distributor explained.

Solar product prices in overseas markets have been on the rise recently, particularly in the past two weeks, driven by surging demand from the Middle Eastern conflict’s impact on oil and natural gas prices, and the trend of buying at the start of a period of price growth rather than price decline, given the expectations from the VAT export rebate cancellation, according to InfoLink.

Editor: Futura Costaglione