Corning Increases Glass Substrate Price Again Q3 Panel Price Supported
Corning announced for the first time at the end of March this year that it would raise the price of glass substrates in the second quarter. After three months, it announced the price increase again on the official website on June 22, Eastern Time. This is also the first time in panel history that glass substrates have increased for two consecutive quarters.
Corning pointed out in the announcement that the price of glass substrates for displays will be moderately increased in the third quarter. Corning also explained that due to the increase in transportation costs, energy, raw materials and many other operating costs, inflationary pressures have also affected the display industry, so he decided to increase the price of glass substrates. In addition, Corning expects that the supply and demand of glass substrates in the third quarter is still tight.
Omdia Display Research, said that the price increase of panel materials continued into the third quarter. The average price increase of glass substrate in the second quarter was about 5-10%, and the increase in the third quarter was expected to be 5-10%. Judging from the supply and demand of glass substrates, although the production capacity of Japan's NEG and AGC has recovered, they cannot be fully produced and supplied. The supply gap of glass substrates is still there. On the other hand, the production capacity of mainland panel factories has increased and the demand for glass substrates has increased, resulting in a shortage of glass substrates in the third quarter.
In addition to glass substrates, the price of silicon wafers has reached a new high, the demand for automotive chips is still very strong, and the driving IC is still out of stock. Panel factories still have to spend more money to grab production capacity. It is estimated that the price of driving IC will increase by 10 ~ 15% in a single quarter.
Xie Qinyi said with a smile that foreign investors have been bearish on panels recently, as if the panel market was about to collapse in the third quarter. At present, it seems that the price of panels in the third quarter is still quite stable and there is still room for a slight increase. He pointed out that since this year, the increase in raw materials has been quite large. Apart from the double-digit price increase of driving IC per quarter, even glass substrates have rarely increased for two consecutive quarters, and other optical films such as polarizers have more or less reflected the cost increase. Panel prices rose, in addition to supply and demand factors, in fact, also reflected the material prices rose. As for the poor sales in the terminal market previously mentioned by foreign investors, in fact, many goods are stuffed on ships and ports, and there are not enough goods to sell in the retail market, resulting in a decrease in the sales figures in the terminal market, not a weakening of demand. Xie Qinyi believes that the impact of unblocking should be continuously observed, and the time point of panel supply and demand reversal is expected to fall in the fourth quarter.
