(Yicai Global) May 26 -- The price of raw materials used in solar cells may increase further in China due to two recent earthquakes that affected two major monocrystalline silicon plants in the country’s northwest, according to experts.

Even if Longi Green Energy Technology and Zhonghuan Semiconductor say the damage is not majorly hurting production capacity, prices may rise, according to experts in the field at companies or brokerages.

The effects are predicted to flow downstream. Downstream solar cell makers, which have been under intense financial pressures lately, may have to slash production as raw materials get more expensive, they said.

Two earthquakes, measuring more than magnitude 7.2, hit the provinces of Yunnan and Qianhai on May 21 and 22, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. 

Longi raised its prices on May 14 due to strong product demand, its fifth price increase this year. Since April 23, factory gate prices of silicon wafers have gone up by 10 percent to 12 percent.

Longi will need to cut output by 120 million units this month, roughly 10 percent of its total, due to the quakes, the Xi'an-based company said in a statement yesterday. Capacity should return to normal in a week, it added. 

Zhonghuan expects to reduce its monocrystalline silicon wafer output by about 0.13 gigawatts this month, or 0.2 percent of the annual total, the Tianjin-based firm said in a statement on May 24 after its plant in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was affected.

In recent years, monocrystalline silicon has been in short supply as the solar power sector expands. Last year, Longi and Zhonghuan had a combined nearly 60 percent market share in China, according to data. Longi, which ranks first in China by capacity, has been further increasing its output after reaching 58.15 gigawatts last year.

Editor: Emmi Laine , Xiao Yi