China's Eight Major Polysilicon Producers Jointly Pledge to Reject Below-Cost Sales
Nashnova编辑部
Eight major Chinese polysilicon producers have jointly pledged not to sell below production cost, covering over 80% of the country's capacity. The move follows a near-90% price collapse and more than two years of industry-wide losses — the first collective floor-setting attempt backed by regulators.
What exactly did these eight companies agree to?
Tongwei, GCL, Daqo and five other producers signed an "anti-involution" pact, pledging not to sell polysilicon below production cost and setting up a mutual monitoring and reporting mechanism.
Together the eight control roughly 2.85 million tonnes of capacity — over 80% of China's total. This means → if the pact holds, the vast majority of domestic polysilicon supply is bound by the floor.
In plain terms = each company used to wage its own price war. Now the top players have drawn a line: no one sells at a loss.
How far have prices fallen, and how deep are the losses?
Polysilicon peaked above RMB 300,000 per tonne in 2022. By July 2026 it had fallen to roughly RMB 31,000 — a drop of nearly 90%, well below most producers' cost of production.
Losses have spread across the entire solar value chain. About 21 listed Chinese solar firms project combined first-half 2026 losses of RMB 13.04–16.79 billion (roughly USD 1.93–2.48 billion).
Tongwei alone expects a loss of RMB 4.8–5.4 billion; LONGi expects RMB 3.4–3.8 billion. Together they account for the bulk of the industry total. This reflects a price war that has moved far beyond weak players — even the sector's giants are bleeding heavily.
How is this different from previous handshake deals?
The critical difference: regulators stepped in at the same time. On July 27, 2026, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association published a unified cost-accounting standard for the entire solar supply chain.
Four days later, China's State Administration for Market Regulation sent inspectors to Yancheng, Jiangsu, for on-site price checks. In plain terms = previous pledges were companies promising on their own; this time regulators showed up with a standardized ruler to audit the books.
China also introduced mandatory energy-consumption standards for the solar industry, putting pressure on high-cost, high-energy production lines. This means → the cleanup extends beyond pricing to who is even allowed to keep running.
Will the pact actually work?
China's solar industry has tried similar coordination before. Each time, some producers broke ranks to protect utilization rates or market share, and the price war reignited quickly.
The eight-company pact is an attempt to set a competitive floor, not proof that the price war is over.
Downstream demand has yet to show a meaningful recovery. Even if polysilicon prices stabilize briefly, the pricing pressure will persist unless excess capacity is genuinely retired. Put simply = the line has been drawn, but whether it holds depends on whether real capacity actually exits the market.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.