As China’s photovoltaic industry enters a deeper phase of policy-driven efforts to curb excessive competition, GCL Technology (03800.HK)—long committed to differentiated development—has delivered encouraging signals of a benchmark company navigating the industry cycle through its 2025 interim results.

On August 29, GCL Technology released its financial report for the first half of 2025. The company recorded revenue of RMB 5.735 billion and a gross loss of RMB 700 million. Notably, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) reached approximately RMB 380 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 325.8%, successfully maintaining positive operating cash flow. Against the backdrop of heavy losses across the industry, GCL Technology delivered a resilient and credible performance.

“Leveraging the innovative granular silicon production process, the company has built a strong intellectual property moat and core competitiveness, demonstrating clear counter-cyclical advantages,” GCL Technology stated. “This has continuously enhanced product competitiveness and customer stickiness, positioning the company at a new high point of high-quality development driven by new productive forces.”

According to the company, by the second quarter of 2025, the average production cash cost of granular silicon (excluding tax) had declined to RMB 25.31 per kilogram, down 6.5% from the first quarter, remaining at the lowest level in the industry. On a quarterly basis, since prices bottomed out in the third quarter of 2024, granular silicon’s tax-inclusive selling prices have consistently exceeded cash costs from the fourth quarter of 2024 onward, effectively reinforcing cash flow resilience. According to Infolink data, in July 2025, transaction prices for granular silicon surpassed those of traditional N-type dense polysilicon for the first time.

Product quality continued to improve markedly. The report shows that through sustained process optimization, technological upgrades and material iteration, granular silicon quality has achieved steady and continuous breakthroughs. Benefiting from its high and stable purity, customer reliance on GCL Technology’s granular silicon products has increased, with strategic partnerships becoming more robust.

Financial disclosures indicate that granular silicon products have largely achieved total metal impurity levels (five key elements) below 1 ppbw, while products with total metal impurities ≤0.5 ppbw have stabilized at a high level of 95%, with further improvement potential. In June, the company introduced an even stricter quality inspection standard of ≤0.3 ppbw for the same five elements, and within the same month, products meeting this threshold already exceeded 75%. Under the stringent measurement standard of total metal impurities (18 elements) ≤1 ppbw, the proportion of compliant products rose from 55.8% in Q1 2024 to 91.8% in Q2 2025, marking a significant enhancement in overall quality.

Granular silicon turbidity has also continued to improve. All products now record turbidity below 100 NTU, while the share of products with turbidity ≤70 NTU increased from 25% in September 2024 to 57.4% by Q2 2025.

Driven by comprehensive improvements across quality parameters, granular silicon has demonstrated strong market performance. Shipments to the company’s top five customers accounted for 71% of total deliveries, while GCL Technology’s granular silicon production market share reached 24.32% in the first half of the year.

GCL Technology emphasized that it firmly supports national policies aimed at advancing the unified national market and curbing disorderly low-price competition. The company adheres to a “produce-to-order” model, upholds principles of orderly competition, and continues to maintain low inventory levels for granular silicon products.

While market share has continued to rise, the company has also achieved significant reductions in operating expenses. During the reporting period, selling expenses declined by 21.2% year-on-year, administrative expenses decreased by 8.5%, and financing costs fell by 10.5%. The company’s asset-liability ratio (excluding endorsed and discounted notes) was reduced to 38.4%.

In the ESG domain, GCL Technology’s Carbon Chain Management Platform has emerged as an industry benchmark. The company has successfully driven the silicon materials sector’s transition from a “high energy consumption, high carbon” model to a “low energy consumption, low carbon” value framework. The carbon footprint of granular silicon from cradle to gate stands at just 41 kg CO₂e per kilogram, significantly lower than the 81 kg CO₂e per kilogram characterized factor for rod-shaped silicon in the internationally recognized Ecoinvent 3.9.1 database. This breakthrough effectively addresses the long-standing issue of inflated carbon accounting caused by reliance on high-emission European silicon carbon factors.

This achievement marks a critical transition for China from a “carbon factor taker” to a “carbon standard setter,” effectively driving decarbonization across the entire photovoltaic value chain and accelerating progress toward a zero-carbon future.

A senior industry analyst commented: “The photovoltaic industry is currently at a critical stage of supply-side reform, with consensus on curbing excessive competition rapidly taking shape. Through technological breakthroughs, process disruption, cost reductions and a substantial decline in carbon footprint, GCL Technology has set a benchmark for helping the industry break free from excessive competition and navigate the cycle. Based on the current policy intensity and market pricing, the company is expected to turn profitable as early as August.”

The analyst further noted: “Following this round of supply-side reform, combined with the strict implementation of the EU carbon border tax and the global ESG investment trend, GCL Technology’s granular silicon is poised to become the mainstream product in the photovoltaic industry.”

Link：https://finance.china.com.cn/roll/20250830/6264607.shtml