(Yicai) Feb. 26 -- Several leading Chinese photovoltaic companies have confirmed to Yicai that they hiked solar module prices after demand for the products recovered.

“There has been a slight increase in prices,” a representative from Trina Solar told Yicai, adding that prices per watt are now 2 to 3 Chinese cents (0.3 to 0.4 US cents) higher in China and Europe. No details were unveiled about the US market.

In China, the electric power industry’s reform is gradually taking effect, with market regulation slowly returning to normal, while in Europe, the destocking process has concluded, the Trina Solar representative said about the reason behind the price hikes.

Yicai contacted leading Chinese PV firms after recent online rumors had claimed module prices were raised by few Chinese cents per watt.

Due to the electricity reform policies, factory prices of Longi Green Energy Technology’s distributed products rose by 3 to 5 Chinese cents per watt last week, an insider close to the company’s marketing department told Yicai. The prices of centralized products remained unchanged, they added.

Market demand has recovered after the Chinese New Year holiday, and the company’s order intake has been improving moving forward, a representative from JA Solar told Yicai.

The increase in PV module prices is supported not only by market demand but also by the fact that upstream raw material firms are still operating at a loss, which puts pressure on costs and prompts a price increase for the modules to be passed up, the JA Solar representative added.

A Chinese solar module manufacturer among the world’s 10 largest by shipments told Yicai that it recently raised the prices of products sold to Chinese distributors by about 2 Chinese cents per watt. Also a representative from Aiko Solar Energy confirmed to Yicai the Shanghai-based firm increased module prices.

Jinko Solar, Longi, JA Solar, and Trina Solar were the world’s four largest PV module makers by shipments last year, according to data recently released by industry information agency InfoLink Consulting. The four of them contributed to 60 percent of the total shipment volume of the top 10 ranked.

Editor: Futura Costaglione