The devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, 2025 in Myanmar has disrupted the global solar supply chain as its tremors were felt far and wide, including Southwestern China, a major global ingot and wafer production hub.
This region comprises Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Ningxia, Sichuan, and Qinghai, which account for 32%, 19%, 12%, 12%, and 11% of the country’s total wafer production, respectively, according to InfoLink Consulting.
“Although the earthquake did not directly strike these facilities, seismic waves have disrupted production schedules and capacity allocation. Some companies have suspended shipments and postponed order deliveries in response,” explains InfoLink.
Analysts expect a loss of 3.5 GW to 4 GW in monthly wafer output, representing about 7% to 12% of the total production, as several factories have temporarily halted production in Southwest China. The impact could further grow, warns InfoLink.
Some manufacturers have halted production to carry out assessments and inspections of their facilities. Some of the equipment failures may take several weeks or even months to be repaired, according to leading Chinese solar PV manufacturer JinkoSolar.
According to InfoLink Consulting, several factories have temporarily halted production due to issues such as production line disruptions, sealed pots and furnace explosions.
Following a power line failure and logistics disruption, some areas in Yinchuan and Inner Mongolia are seeing decreased production. The collapse of the Ava Bridge between Myanmar’s Mandalay and the China-Myanmar border has also affected the transport of PV raw materials, such as silver paste and glass, among other equipment.
According to JinkoSolar, alternate routes being explored to ship solar PV modules from Anji, Zhejiang have increased transport costs by approximately 15%, while partial damage to roads in Yunnan and Sichuan has extended inter-provincial transport times by 20% to 30%.
Wafer prices had already gone up by nearly 6.7% before the earthquake, thanks to stockpiling to meet peak season demand. TOPCon cell prices had gone up by over 3% as well.
Wafer prices for n-type 182 mm and 210R type rose 2.5% and 3.6% week-on-week (WoW), respectively in calendar week 13 of 2025, according to TaiyangNews PV Price Index (see TaiyangNews PV Price Index—2025—CW13).
With the earthquake, a further short-term spike in prices can be expected.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, many wafer suppliers have paused their shipments and are renegotiating prices, says InfoLink. Zhonghuan, for instance, raised its prices on March 31, 2025. Others will likely follow suit and drive up wafer prices even further.
“This earthquake, though sudden, highlights how vulnerable the PV industry can be to natural disasters due to its highly concentrated production base,” stated InfoLink.
