Good day, and welcome to the Daqo New Energy fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 results conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. If you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Kevin He, investor relations. Please go ahead.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kevin He, the investor relations of Daqo New Energy. Thank you for joining our conference call today. Daqo New Energy just issued its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, which can be found on our website at www.dqsolar.com. To facilitate today's conference call, we also have prepared a PPT presentation for your reference. Today, attending the conference call, we have Mr. Longgen Zhang, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Ming Yang, our Chief Financial Officer. The call today will feature an update from Mr. Zhang on market and operations, and then Mr. Yang will discuss the company's financial performance for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year of 2020. After that, we will open the floor to Q&A from the audience.
Before we begin the formal remarks, I would like to remind you that certain statements on today's call, including expected future operational and financial performance and industry growth, are forward-looking statements that are made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Full information regarding these and other risks is included in the reports or documents we have filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements only reflect our current and preliminary view as of today and may be subject to change. Our ability to achieve these projections is subject to risks and uncertainties.
All information provided in today's call is as of today, and we undertake no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law. Also, during the call, we will occasionally reference monetary amounts in US dollar terms. Please keep in mind that our functional currency is the Chinese RMB. We offer these translations into US dollars solely for the convenience for the audience. Without further ado, I now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. Zhang.
Thank you, Kevin. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our conference call today. We are very pleased to report a strong quarter in terms of operational and financial results to bring a successful close of the year 2020. I would like to thank our entire team for their hard work, commitment, and dedication in achieving these excellent results. During the quarter, we produced 21,008 metric tons of polysilicon, a record high in our company's history. Our production cost was reduced by 2.7% in renminbi terms, primarily due to our efforts in additional energy savings, offset by a higher-than-expected rise in the cost of silicon raw materials. In the fourth quarter, the increase in our cost in US dollar terms compared to the third quarter was a result of exchange rate fluctuations due to renminbi appreciation.
In 2021, we will continue our efforts to reduce cost as we begin to benefit from our newly implemented digital manufacturing system to maximize our output, optimize our production process, and further improve our operational stability and product quality. During the months of November and December 2020, we saw a significant pickup in polysilicon demand from our customers to meet their increasing production needs to serve the growing solar end market. During the fourth quarter, we sold 23,186 metric tons of polysilicon, which is the highest quarterly sales volume the company ever achieved. Since the beginning of 2021, we continue to see rising polysilicon market prices, and most recently, market poly ASP has reached a range of $15 per kg to $16 per kg.
As our mono wafer customers continue their capacity expansion plans, supported by a robust downstream market demand, we believe that the supply of polysilicon will continue to be very tight throughout the year, given very limited additional polysilicon supply this year. Regarding the status of proposed initial public offering of our Xinjiang Daqo subsidiaries in China's stock market, the stock listing committee of Shanghai Stock Exchange reviewed Xinjiang Daqo's application in February 2nd, 2021, and determined that Xinjiang Daqo has already met the offering, listing, and disclosure requirements related to its potential stock market IPO.
As the next step, Xinjiang Daqo will need to be to go through the registration process with China Securities Regulatory Commission before the stock market IPO can take place. The proceeds of its potential IPO will be used to fund our phase IV-B polysilicon project with an annual capacity of 35,000 metric tons. We have already started the preparation works for phase IV-B, including the design and the procurement process. We plan to start the construction in middle of March, and expect to complete the project by the end of 2021, and ramp it up to full capacity by the end of Q1 2022. I have been in the solar industry for over a decade, and the prospects for the solar industry have never been bright.
Driven by the new trends of solar grid parity and the urgent need to address climate change, the industry is on the cusp of ongoing tremendous growth over the next few years without the need for government subsidies. Solar energy is now one of the most competitive form of power generation ever, even compared to fossil fuel. We are beginning to see real-world applications where solar is the optimal choice to meet growing energy needs and to replace legacy carbon-based generation. Major economies around the world have also begun to implement ambitious policies and initiatives to support and mandate the use of renewable energy for power generation.
The European Union has announced its European Green Deal to fight climate change through progressive policies for climate neutral and sustainable EU, with the goal of no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, and to decarbonize the energy sector. Over the next few years, the European Climate Law is expected to turn this political commitment into a legal obligation. In China, President Xi Jinping has announced that China will aim to hit peak emissions before 2030 and reach carbon neutral energy by 2060. We expect various government agencies, including the NEA and the NDRC, to introduce and implement policies to mandate and support the use of renewable energy. For 2021, the NEA has indicated its intention to accelerate the development of wind and solar energy, with a goal of adding a combined 120 GW of wind and solar in 2021.
In the U.S., with the Biden administration commitment to fight climate change and plan for clean energy re-revolution with a goal of achieving a 100% clean energy economy and reaching net zero emissions no later than 2050. We believe favorable policies are forthcoming to support renewable energies growth in the U.S. We are standing at the beginning of a new era that will demand more and more clean, renewable and cost-effective energy resources, among which solar PV is one of the most competitive. We will focus on our core business, continue to expand capacity, and further improve quality to better serve the fast-growing solar PV market. Now let me discuss our outlook and guidance for our future.
The company expects to produce approximately 19,500-20,500 metric tons of polysilicon, and sell approximately 20,000-21,000 metric tons of polysilicon to external customers during the first quarter of 2021. For the full year of 2021, the company expects to produce approximately 80,000-81,000 metric tons of polysilicon, inclusive of the impact of the company's annual facility maintenance. Now, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Mr. Yang, who will discuss the company's financial performance for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2020.
Thank you, Longgen. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. Now I will discuss our company's financial performance for the fourth quarter of 2020. Revenues were CNY 247.7 million, compared to CNY 125.5 million in the third quarter of 2020, and CNY 118.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The 97% increase in revenue in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter was primarily due to higher polysilicon sales volume and higher polysilicon average selling prices. Gross profit for the fourth quarter was CNY 109.5 million, compared to CNY 45.3 million in the third quarter of 2020 and CNY 35.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Gross margin was 44.2%, compared to 36% in the third quarter of 2020 and 29.5% in the fourth quarter of 2019. The increase in gross margin was primarily due to higher ASPs. Our polysilicon average production cost was $5.92 per kilogram in the fourth quarter, compared to $5.82 per kilogram in the third quarter. The slight increase in ASP was primarily the result of RMB appreciation versus the U.S. dollar during the quarter. In RMB terms, our production cost in Q4 was reduced by 2.7% as compared to Q3, primarily as a result of improvements in energy and operational efficiencies, despite a higher-than-expected rise in silicon metal raw material costs in the fourth quarter.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses were CNY 11.2 million, compared to CNY 9.2 million in the third quarter of 2020 and CNY 9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. The increase in SG&A costs was primarily due to an increase in shipping costs as a result of higher sales volume for the fourth quarter, as well as an increase in personnel costs. SG&A expenses during the quarter included $4.5 million in non-cash share-based compensation costs related to the company's share incentives plan. R&D expenses for the quarter was CNY 1.5 million, compared to CNY 1.7 million in the third quarter of 2020 and CNY 1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
R&D expenses for the quarter included projects related to quality and purity improvements for N-type polysilicon, as well as other technology upgrade projects, and can vary from period to period, reflecting R&D activities that take place during the quarter. Income from operations was $98 million, compared to $33.3 million in the third quarter of 2020 and $30.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Operating margin was 39.6%, compared to 26.6% in the third quarter of 2020 and 25.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Interest expense was $8.3 million, compared to $5.4 million in the third quarter of 2020 and $3.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The increase was primarily due to an increase in bank interest charges, as well as bank fees related to Chinese bank notes. EBITDA was CNY 115.1 million, compared to CNY 51.6 million in the third quarter of 2020 and CNY 45.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. EBITDA margin was 46.5%, compared to 41.1% in the third quarter of 2020 and 38.2% in the fourth quarter of 2019. Net income attributable to Daqo New Energy shareholder was CNY 72.8 million, compared to CNY 20.8 million in the third quarter of 2020 and CNY 20.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Earnings per basic ADS was $1.01, compared to $0.29 in the fourth quarter of 2020 and $0.29 in the fourth quarter of 2019. On the company's financial condition. As of December 31st, 2020, the company had $118.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, compared to $109.8 million as of September 30th, 2020. As of December 31st, 2020, the notes receivable balance was $0.2 million, compared to $1.9 million as of September 30th, 2020.
As of December 31st, 2020, total bank borrowings were CNY 193.7 million, of which CNY 123.2 million were long-term borrowings, compared to total bank borrowings of CNY 271 million, including CNY 140 million of long-term bank borrowings as of September 30th, 2020. For the 12 months ended December 31st, 2020, net cash provided by operating activities was CNY 209.7 million, compared to CNY 181 million in the same period of 2019. For the full year of 2020, net cash used in investing activities was CNY 118.5 million, compared to CNY 261.8 million in the same period of 2019.
Net cash used in investing activities in 2020 and 2019 was primarily related to the capital expenditures on the company's phase IV-A polysilicon project. For the 12 months ended December 31st, 2020, net cash used in financing activities was CNY 95.5 million, compared to net cash provided by financing activities of CNY 102.3 million in the same period of 2019. On the company's full year 2020 results. Revenues were CNY 675.6 million, compared to CNY 350 million in 2019. The increase in revenue was primarily due to higher polysilicon sales volume as 2020 polysilicon sales volume increased to 74,812 tons, as compared to 38,110 tons in 2019.
Gross profit was CNY 234 million, compared to CNY 80.1 million in 2019. Gross margin was 34.6%, compared to 22.9% in 2019. The increase in gross margin was primarily due to lower polysilicon production costs. Selling, general, and administrative expenses for 2020 was CNY 39.5 million compared to CNY 32.9 million in 2019. The increase in SG&A expense was primarily due to an increase in shipping costs as a result of higher sales volume, as well as increase in personnel costs. R&D expenses were CNY 6.9 million compared to CNY 5.3 million in 2019. The income from operations was CNY 187.9 million compared to CNY 47.5 million in 2019. Operating margin was 27.8% compared to 13.6% in 2019.
Net income attributable to Daqo New Energy shareholders was $129.2 million compared to $29.5 million in 2019. Earnings per basic ADS was $1.82 compared to $0.43 in 2019. Adjusted net income attributable to Daqo New Energy shareholders was $147.1 million compared to $47.4 million in 2019. Adjusted earnings per basic ADS was $2.07 compared to $0.70 in 2019. That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, now we would like to open the call to questions from the audience.
Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we'll pause momentarily to assemble the roster. The first question is from Gary Zhou with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thanks for taking my questions, and congratulations on the strong results. I have two questions. Firstly is on the polysilicon price outlook. We noticed that there has been a significant polysilicon price hike after Chinese New Year, from around RMB 90 to around RMB 110 last week. Can management share with us your latest view on the near-term polysilicon price outlook for the next few weeks? If you can also share your estimate for the second quarter this year and also the second half of this year. The second question is on the inventory.
Wondering if management can share with us the company's latest polysilicon inventory, and if you have also some information on the inventory level as to your competitors and also as to wafer companies. Thank you.
Hello, Gary. I think, first of all, I think, you know, the price. I think, you know, January, our average, including the Value-Added Tax, I think our selling ASP is around CNY 80 per kg. February around CNY 81. Right now, I think, in March, we're selling around CNY 100. Higher than CNY 100, okay? I think we see the selling price go up, and especially this week, I think with selling our product around CNY 120 renminbi per kg. Equivalent, I think, if you without Value-Added Tax is more than higher than $16 per kg. We see the reason because we see this year didn't have any capacity adding to the polysilicon supply side.
The demand side, really we see a lot of, I think, the wafer expansion projects is on the, you know, on the, on the road. As you see that, recently we just announced the two long-term contracts. One is with Zhonghuan, another one is with Wuxi Shangji. Basically, those two long-term contracts is most, you know, I think a majority, 90% quantity is focused on 2022, 2023, 2024. This year actually is not too much, you know. You can see right now, people is more even in a concern, even to next year, middle of next year, a possible demand is still higher than the supply.
As we see the polysilicon price continue every week go up, we believe, I think second quarter, the ASP should be around CNY 120-130, you know, per kg. It's possible. For second half of the year, I think definitely, we believe should be above CNY 120 per kg. I can't, you know, project, you know, how far away, as we say today, polysilicon cost account for in module, okay, firing module, only around 15%-16%. Account for total, I think a project cost maybe around, you know, 7%-8%. It's total lower glass cost. Glass today cost account for almost, you know, 18%, 19% of the module.
We do not believe, I think, polysilicon price go up little will affect, I think, the ending product module price too much.
Today, I think, the major problem, I think maybe, you know, the major price come back is around RMB 1.7. We still think, you know, it's sellable. The market is still there, especially in China. The polysilicon price will continue, maybe, you know, first half of next year still can above, I think between above around like RMB 100 per kg. After the middle of next year, I cannot project. It's dependent on the ending market and also how fast I think, you know, the wafer expansion and how fast, you know, the polysilicon can be adding, supply can add in there. We see that next year, the only capacity can ending, one is our 35,000 tons, then Tongwei may be around 80,000 tons.
We also see Asia Silicon and Xinte, based upon their IPO, they also are planning expansion. Their capacity, new capacity maybe will adding, you know, by the end of next year. Really, we do not think, you know, too much capacity supply even next year. Maybe the year , so, you know, 2023, I think the capacity come back, you know, little more. I'm going to give, you know, the year beyond the next year. Basically, what I think is, you know, the silicon supply and demand very tight this year. The situation will continue to middle of next year. The inventory, let Ming answer the second question.
Okay. Hi, Gary. Let me discuss quickly about our inventory level. I think you remember at the end of Q3, because of a delay of order from a particular customer, I think our inventory was a bit higher than normal, so it was running at more than three weeks inventory at that time. I think during Q4, as demand improved and orders normalized, especially in December with very strong orders from our customers. Inventory has reduced to less than two weeks, approximately 10 days or so. That's already a normalized level of inventory.
By now, our inventory is running at very lean levels. It is less than a week of inventory right now, which is really the minimum level that we need to prepare products for the different grades and to ship to different customers. We are running at basically our minimum level of inventory right now, of less than a week. I think across the industry and also our customers, we are also seeing very lean inventory levels currently.
Okay.
Gary?
Yeah, thank you very much. This is very helpful. Yeah, thank you. This is very helpful. I'll pass on. Thank you.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question is from Karl Liu of CICC. Please go ahead.
Hey, thanks management for taking my question. I only got two question. The first, I think we have no doubt about the potential price of trend this year. We are seeing some current change on the demand weakness, especially in March. I think we have some channel checks showing the modules company has already cut their capacity utilization recently. Could you please give us some colors on the current market dynamic? Do we think the current price, the growth trend will be slowed down or do we expect the price to stabilize recently? I mean, we have no doubt about the whole price trend this year, how about recently? Do we expect that change in the modules will have some pressures on us?
The second question is about the prepayment. We know we have some prepayment we signed with the customer. Could you please share the prepayment percentage we have signed with the customer or maybe just some colors that we can, for example, how much money we can advance payment we can receive when we sign a contract with our customers? That's all my question.
Karl, I think first question, you know, today.
Yeah.
Basically, okay, module market, I think the Europe and the U.S. market is still very hot.
Yeah.
Like I said, I think, you know.
Yes.
You overseas you're still selling around $0.25, I think per watt, still is good. The only thing is right now China, I think right now.
Yeah.
To one, uh, 1.65, 1.7 , and it looks like.
Yeah.
A little slight. The reason is because everybody waiting for NEA, the two conference meeting, you know, the new policy. Definitely, I think, after middle of April, definitely I think China demand will be quickly, you know, come back. That's I think for certain.
Okay.
To answer your question, yes. I think the module selling maybe will slow down in China within one month.
Okay.
If you look the inventory, maybe some inventory is pipe sale. The reason is why, because I think right now, wafer today, almost mono wafer, you know, no inventory as we told.
Okay.
I think some company, okay, I think, in order to keep a high growth margin, basically, they continue to increase the wafer prices. I'm not sure, you know, how long they can, you know, continue doing that. Okay. Basically, what I say, in some segments, because unbalanced, you know, gross margin and cannot pass through the middle industry. What I say is the wafer, cell, and the module, and the cost may be temporary. The module, I think, selling maybe little slow down. For further, for the future, you see, I think a module just like the building. As you build up, you always can sellable. Okay. Only is the price.
Yeah.
Finally, you are selling the module maybe at a lower price, right? The only thing the whole is going to lose money. Or not say lose money, maybe adjust their gross margin in certain area, you see, to lower down their gross margin. What I think is, in the future, wafer gross margin should be go down. You know, the module should be, gross margin should be reasonable, to reach a reasonable margin to push the, you know, the module continue to selling. I'm not worried about just as I said, you see, even polysilicon price continued to go up, CNY 10, CNY 20 per kg. That affect, you know, the final product only a little.
If we increase 10 RMB yuan per kg, maybe only increase the module price, you know, 0.5%, 3%, 0.3%. It not affect too much. You know, the effect is less than the glass's prices right now affect the module. What I think is, because of demand and supply, the market mechanism, you know, for us, because we are chemistry industry, it's hard long-term investments, you know. It's a intensive capital investments, it's hard to, in time, to one time, you know, to increase capacity. As you know that the demand and supply is there. Even this year, all the polysilicon produced only maybe can support, I think around 150, you know, gigawatts.
As you can see, the wafer capacity continue expansion. By the end of this year, in China maybe it reach to more than 400 GW. We don't know, basically, you know. I can tell you is the market is there. China will continue to go up. Even NEA today, the head of the NEA, just said, you know, we were detail laid down the policy and to encourage, I think, wind, solar industry, and encourage each provincial level to continue to develop, you know. The adding together should be more than original planning. The national wide, maybe, you know, 60 GW, 80 GW. I'm very confident, I think the China market. Second is the prepayments. We find, I think.
Yeah.
you know, two long-term contracts. One is with Zhonghuan. Zhonghuan, the contract is signed actually, you know, Zhonghuan signed it before Chinese New Year. We based on that time, I think we collect 5% of, you know, the current price, the total contract value. For Shangji, basically we based on right now, I think, the week before last week, the average selling price, we collect 6%, I think, the down payment is. We are going to sign another contract, also continue keep in the 6%. As you can see that the only things we sign under the contract, majority is for the next three years. It's not for this year, okay?
This year we're just going to squeeze maybe beginning inventory, maybe the end of the year, you see our phase IV-B or even, you know, December, maybe we'll book some, you know, next year, January, you know, quantity. There is some contracts we have the adjustments 10% up and down, so we still can, I think do something, I think, you know, to help some company especially, like, I think some company, you know, they are sizable in the future. Our strategy is in the future, you know, one client cannot account for more than 20% of our sales.
Yeah. Thanks for your answer. Actually, I have a follow-up question on your last word. It's interesting we have noticed that the wafer price has always like banding with the polysilicon price. When the polysilicon price go up, the wafer price always follow up and go up. If we look at the capacity, we should see some like, yeah, the overcapacity or the competition on the wafer side. But actually in the price level we didn't see that. Could you give us some color on that? Do you think it's just something we will definitely happen but it's just not happened?
Do you think it's because currently, the sales diversity is not big enough, so we still have, I mean, the whole industry, the polysilicon industry still have the sales or contracts with the leading players. Actually the second-tier players cannot get enough the polysilicon, so even they have planning to build up more capacity, but actually they cannot produce more wafer. What do you think about this?
I think, you know, as the module assembling gross margin right now is lower, so it's not discourage I think the module sales in China temporary.
Yeah.
I think inventory is there. I think some company, maybe they, in the history, they almost monopolize, you know, manipulate the wafer capacity. In the future.
Yeah.
When they are vertically integrated, if they can selling their wafer, you know, or in the module, I think it's okay. If they continue to increase the price of the wafer, you know, if they cannot selling the module, you know, what's the next step? They have to reduce the module, wafer price, all right.
Yeah.
That's the time. Only the time can tell you. I'm not gonna do any comments. I think the stock price tell everybody, right?
Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you very much. That is all my question.
Thank you. Mm-hmm.
Okay. Thank you.
The next question is from Philip Shen with Roth Capital Partners. Please go ahead.
Hi, everybody. Thank you for taking my questions. The first one is just a follow-up on the outlook for China's demand. Can you share what you think the overall demand will be this year? Do you think it'll be 60 GW, or do you think it's 80 GW, for example? Perhaps talk about what that split might be by quarter.
Philip, I think, you know, I'm very, you know, optimistic about China, even though the, I think, the drought didn't set any, you know, target for national level. I think, it encourage, I think, the each provincial to develop, I think, their own targets. Today, in the two conferences in Beijing today, the head of the NEA basically, you know, set the target there, I think around, it's one I think 1,200 GW in next 10 years. As you can see that, I'm pretty sure, especially the distributed, you know, the rooftop and the distributed, I think, power, solar power plants in China is continue to develop. I think this year definitely should be above 60 GW, even above 80 GW.
Great. Thank you, Longgen. I mean, I think you guys are very, fully booked for 2021. For 2022 I believe with the new contracts you might be fully booked as well. Would love to get some additional color on how you're thinking about capacity expansion. Clearly with the China listing, you're gonna raise money for the phase IV-B expansion. Can you talk about the expectations for CapEx for phase IV-B? I believe it's maybe CNY 13,000. Oh, sorry.
CNY 13.5 billion.
For metric ton?
Yeah.
Feel free to give in renminbi, but do you expect the new phase IV-B to be similar? Do we have the unit CapEx right for phase IV-B? Beyond IV-B, what are you thinking about now? Where do you think the location could be for the expansion, and what kind of CapEx could that be? Thanks.
Okay. I think, Philip, you know, the only things I can tell you is we are continue to expansion. As you can see right now the information, even right now we still not listing IPO, but we use our own money already starting phase IV-B. Phase IV-B design capacity is 35,000 tons, but that is integrated to our existing plants. We think the actual output should be 40,000 tons. Basically, this year we're already given guidance, 80,000-81,000 metric tons. Next year, I think it's not the final, you know, we can see if we can, you know, climb the, you know, ramp up phase IV-B capacity, you know, quickly.
I think next year our plan, okay, is going to increase capacity 60%, which to 120,000 tons for next year. That's the, I think, two years plan. For the, you know, beyond the two years, we also, as you see that, we are planning right now the IPO in China stock market. So far we don't know the valuation, but we very optimism, and we can raise, you know, I think right now the estimate is CNY 5 billion. I think if we can raise more than that, definitely I think, you know, use our own, current, you know, free cash, then, you know, this year, I think the net profit plus, I think, you know, the depreciation or EBITDA, whatever, you know, we think we can continue to planning expansion.
That we cannot tell you know, how much and where. We are looking, you know, I think beyond Xinjiang, we are looking other places right now. Maybe we are looking, you know, another 40 or even 80 or even 1,000, you know, tons, new plant. I think that what we're waiting for, you know, basically based on the proceeds of the IPO, the timing, and also the market situation.
Great. Thank you. Can you give us a little bit more color on the China listing in terms of timing? You know, when do you expect that to be, the CSRC to give you the final approval? One last question. As it relates to your cost structure, I think you mentioned that it had went up a little bit in Q4 because of currency. What's your expectation for cost per watt in Q1? How does that trend in 2021?
Okay. I leave the cost, I think, to our CFO, Ming. I think, the IPO, I think processing status in the, you know, maybe, you know, already I think, you know, mentioned that. So far we already, I think, go through the several second. I think the stock market review committee already approved. You know, we are, I think, you know, meet all requirements for the listing and, you know, all the requirements. Right now we are doing the re-registration. I think we are the first one, I think, you know, the U.S. company, I think right now, listing the subsidiary in China. We believe I think, you know, we maybe can, you know, quickly registration by the end of this month.
You know, hopefully we can, you know, listing in China stock market, you know, by the end of April or beginning of, you know, May. That's right now the status. Also, I think I forget, you know, your first question about the phase IV-B total investments. The phase IV-B total investments, because we are integrated to existing plants. Total investments is around CNY 3.5 billion. Our phase IV-A total investments is around CNY 2.9 billion. It's almost, I think, you know, CNY 500 million-CNY 600 million increase. The increase because the capacity is some area, we are, you know, the capacity is higher than 35,000 tons. Okay.
Basically why we are integrated the existing system, so we were syndicated, I think after phase IV-B done, in sure the plants should be more than 120,000 tons, the capacity. The actual output. Ming?
Hi, Phil . In terms of our cost structure, for Q1 we're expecting our costs in terms of RMB to be roughly similar to our costs in Q4, maybe just slightly higher because of higher silicon metal costs. I think in terms of movements in US dollar, I think because of the current continued appreciation of RMB, I think there's we could see maybe a 3%-4% increase in cost in US dollar terms in Q1 relative to Q4 of last year. That's what we're seeing right now.
Maybe because U.S. government continue to issue like $1.9 trillion, you know, U.S. dollars, so cost, RMB continue appreciation.
Right. That's for Q1. Ming, what do you think about Q2, Q3 and Q4? What is the trend of the cost structure? Thanks.
Okay. We think, cost for the remaining of the year should be similar, at least for Q2 and Q3 should be similar to Q1. Costs should come down by Q4, assuming constant, U.S. currency exchange rate.
Okay. Thank you, guys.
The phase IV-B, if the phase IV-B totally ramped up, our costs will continue to at least cutting, you know, 5%.
Yeah, 5% plus type of reduction from current cost.
Okay. Great. Appreciate it. Thank you, and I'll pass it on.
Great. Thank you.
Next question is from Colin Yang with Daiwa Securities. Please go ahead.
Good evening, investors. This is Colin from Daiwa. My first question is a bit similar to Philip's, because, you know, the Street, I think has no concerns for another stellar earnings in 2021 because very limited capacity additions from the industry-wide. People start to worry about the post 2022, especially for our major competitors, including Tongwei and Xinte. They both announced a very aggressive capacity expansion plan. Do we worry about losing market share if we didn't expanding in a timely manner? If we expect, if we expected to announce another expansion plan, do we plan to, you know, aided by another share placement about equity or through a debt financing? This is my first question.
My second question is regarding the FBR method, because as you may notice that there is a quite different reviews on FBR from Tongwei and GCL-Poly. What is our view on FBR including security costs et cetera? Thank you.
Colin, I think, for the first question, I'm going to compare to Tongwei. I know Tongwei right now currently have, I think at least two places where net expansion around 80,000 tons. You have to consider Tongwei also, I think, you know, close equity investments with, I think, other company. For example, LONGi, I think Trina Solar. Basically even by the year 2023, just like they claimed their capacity is 290,000 tons. How much is sellable? We don't know. You know, I think of which maybe more than 1,000 tons they will use their own vertically integrated, because they are going to do the wafer, cell, and even module, right? We, I think right now focus our expansion.
We think it is reasonable, we based on our, you know, capital, I think status, our cash flow, status. I think we're going to do the phase IV-B expansion. By the end of this year, we are going to, I think, put into production. Hopefully can ramp up production by the end of this year. I think next year, our capacity almost a 50% increase to 120,000 tons. We think it is big, I think, you know, increase to meet our clients', you know, needs. As you can see right now today, almost all big wafer producer sign long-term contracts with us. For example, LONGi, Jinko, Trina, Canadian Solar, I think Jinko, even Shangji, Zhonghuan. I think we will announce another company pretty soon.
We right now almost signed those, bigger clients, you know, next two to three years. I think the relation, strong relationship with the clients is not only the quantity, how much you can produce, but also the quality of the products. As you can see our quality, our service, I think we're very confident, you know, in the future, our expansion, continued expansion and our clients relationship. Secondly is for the, I think, FBR. We're not, you know. For us, I'm not going to, you know, go into comments on, you know, another company, a Hong Kong-listed company, you know, they're doing FBR. As you know that we are one of the most transparent company in terms of disclosing, you know, cost structure, products yield rate. However, we didn't see right now FBR, their cost structure.
How much they cost? What's the yield rate? As we know that, you know, they have a current rate or sorry, they have like 10,000, you know, metric tons production line. How much they produce? 200 tons? 300 tons? We don't know. Secondly is we are not, you know, users of FBR polysilicon. We very pay attention to, you know, this issue. With communication, regular communication with our clients to share with our clients. It's very clear that, also today, the quality of FBR polysilicon still has, I think, much room to implement and to match the polysilicon made by, you know, our modified Siemens method. I have no more comments on, you know, our competitor or even, you know, they say, you know, substitute technology or revolutionary technology.
Basically, as you can see that one of our clients, they claim they will invest FBR. They just signed long-term contract with us, pay 6% of the down payments. I think that's strong to improve, you know, two methods, which one is the best.
Understood. Very clear. Thank you, Longgen.
Great. Thank you.
The next question is from Alan Hon with JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Hi. I guess like I have two minor questions here, as most of the question is already answered. I noticed that in the fourth quarter last year, I mean, the realized price is around $10.8. If we are to like take the average from, say, PV InfoLink or Silicon China, it seems to us, it seems to me that the average price would be slightly higher. Just want to understand why. Is it due to like we have a slightly higher sales volume in December when price was relatively lower?
I think, Alan Hon, I think most important, if you look at our, the structure of our product sale in Q4, we're selling I think our product is around 23,186 metric tons. Almost 100% we are mono products. If we compare our Q3, our products, you see the mono product still is 98%. Basically, we're selling most is right now the, I think, mono silicon. Also of which we're selling most is the high quality mono grade, I think, polysilicon. As you can see that even mono silicon classified, I think right now is four, I think, products. We are majority right now is selling the high, highest price. That's why our ASP is higher.
I think around $ 10.80. I think that's my answer. Basically, I think we will continue to enjoy that. The reason is I said, you know, we, I think last year, in middle of last year, we adopted I think a digital management. Even let's say in the deposit processing, we use the, you know, [inaudible] to do the AI calculation. AI, I think, the technology. Right now, our mono silicon product, I think every month we produced is above 99%.
Just follow up to what Longgen said, I think, Alan, I think you're right in that Q4 was a little bit unique in that we did sell more volumes in December than during the months of October or November. I think part of the reason was one, some of our customers were taking advantage of very attractive pricing at the time. Also they were preparing for building up additional volumes for production during the Chinese New Year. That's where the ASP came in.
Got you. My second question, and also my last one is that I noticed in your other operating income has declined from $5.5 million in 2019 to $0.2. I mean, looking at periods like years, how it trend, it usually doesn't trend to almost zero. Just want to get a sense of why over there.
Okay, other operating income historically consists most of, for example, R&D grants and technology grants from various government agencies. Okay, for this year, it just so happened that these were less than previous years. Okay. Actually, I think for future periods, we would expect levels that actually would be more similar to our current year, so lower levels than previous years.
Okay. Similar to the current year, but not the previous years.
Not the previous years, yeah.
Got you. Got you. That's, I guess I will pass it on. Thanks.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question is from Chao Ji with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for taking my question. I remember you said that part of your R&D in 2020 was spent on the research of N-type product. Can you please share with some color in terms of progress your N-type poly? Thank you.
Okay. So basically, we are doing R&D to improve our purity levels because the N-type requirements are much more stringent than the standard mono-type levels. Right now, because of the strong demand from our customers, we are optimizing our overall production for the mono-type polysilicon. We do expect starting effectively starting this year and through the next say two years, that the demand for N-type wafer and translating to N-type poly will increase, you know, over this time. We are doing R&D efforts to increase the share of N-type poly, you know, from our production.
One of the key goal is to increase the level of production in terms of percentage and the same time without a significant impact to our production cost. That's our current target right now.
Sure. Thank you so much.
Great. Thank you.
The next question is from Tony Fei with BOCI. Please go ahead.
Hi, management. Thanks for your time. My first question is regarding your 1,000 ton semi-grade capacity. Understand it's at a very early stage right now, but can you share what is your expectation regarding the quality and ASP and maybe adjustable market regarding this project? Will it be commissioned at the same time with phase IV-B? Second question regarding your maintenance schedule this year. Which quarter will it take place, and how much production volume will it have impact on that specific quarter? Thank you.
What's the second question?
Maintenance.
Okay. I think, first question about the 1,000 metric tons of semiconductor grade polysilicon. This is also in our IPO proceeds. It's based on the IPO success. I think it's a time we think, you know, it's a time we are going to starting doing that production line. Basically, we will joint venture with one of the, I think, you know, I cannot announce the name, okay? Very famous, I think, downstream semiconductor wafer producer, I think, continue together to do the, I think, the projects. Our, I think, angle is from the highest quality, I think, you know, the polysilicon is, I think, the polysilicon should be the highest.
I think, basically right now is, I think, you know, should above 12 inches, wafer, semiconductor wafer quality. We want from top to down rather than our competitor, you know, I think, you know, Xinhua, but not, Yole, I think Water, you know, they have failed because they are starting from bottom, I think lower quality semiconductor. Basically, I think we have the planning and, depends on right now the, I think, the proceeds from the IPO and when we're going to successfully listing, definitely we will announce that at that time. Second is the annual maintenance. Annual maintenance mostly will happen I think in the, in the third quarter.
Just a regular, I think, you know, that will not affect, you know, right now, I think in our guidance for this year, 80,000 to 81,000, I think, you know, the output is already considering the annual maintenance.
Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
The next question is from [inaudible] with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Hi. I guess most of my questions have been asked, so I just follow up with two minor questions. The first one is related to our long-term contracts. Could you share with us what is the % of our 2021 production volume which have been secured by the long-term contracts? The second one is more related to the financial statements. I noticed that the notes receivable in 2020 has dropped significantly. Could you share with us the reason? Thank you.
Okay. Dora, I think I answer your first question. Basically, right now, we signed, I think, you know, two contracts with Shangji. I think a long-term contract with, you know, another five, I think, major wafer producer. I think we booked almost, you know, you know, 100%, I think, 2021 capacity. The only things we can, you know, continue maybe, we will sign another contract. I think as soon as, you know, just, you know, maybe second half of the year, you know, we can squeeze some little quantity for the contract then to, I think, to book the year 2022, 2023, 2024.
Basically, my answer is 2021, the output, 80,000 tons almost in a 100% booked.
Yeah.
Well, I think, our CFO, Ming, will answer that.
Okay. All right. Actually the notes receivables number came down. During the end of the year, we actually paid down a number of our Chinese bank loans. As one source of the funding is from the notes receivables, and we converted it to pay down Chinese bank loans. That's why you saw the balance came down.
Yeah. Thank you so much. That is very clear.
Great. Thank you.
The next question is from Robin Xiao with Cmbi. Please go ahead.
Thank you management for taking my question. I would like to ask about customers' inventory level for polysilicon. Do you think that your clients are building up inventory in view of upcoming supply shortage? This is my first question.
Okay. First of all, I'm not sure, you know, our clients build inventory or not. Basically, you see our clients is a major player right now in the wafer industry. As you can see, LONGi, Zhonghuan, Jinko. I think, I believe I don't think they build inventory on the wafer segments. I believe they're selling, I think all either sell their all Wuxi Shangji sell their all products, or they integrated to, I think, cell module to selling the module. Basically to me, as I just said, right now, this year, total polysilicon capacity only can support 150 or 160 maybe, you know, gigawatts, final products. We may be making some efforts to import some polysilicon. I think that's there.
Maybe, you know, last year some inventory come out this year the ending products. What I say is today I'm not, even today, I think we don't think any inventory in us polysilicon producer like Daqo, Tongwei, I don't think any inventory. Besides Tongwei, okay, I don't know, because Tongwei is vertically integrated. I don't think, you know, Xinte or other company have inventory silicon right now is sitting there. Also, I don't think, you know, the wafer producer, even today like Jinko or Zhonghuan, they are pipe up, you know, their wafer in the inventory. I don't think so.
Okay. Thank you. Very clear. My second question is about the payment terms. Given that the supply is quite tight and downstream is running short of polysilicon supply, do we getting better payment terms for polysilicon sales?
We still, I think, like the usual. You know, to us, I think if you can see, most our delivery is upon you paid. Most right now, yes, we accept their banking notes, and we only accept banking notes, plus I think the cash, okay, the remittance. Basically, we upon that. We right now, because of the supply and demand, we may be, you know, in each ending quarter months, we may be asking for more remittance cash rather than the banking, I think it dropped. I think that's what we're doing. Basically, I think our delivery is upon the cash received. I think as you know that banking notes also is very just like cash.
Basically right now what happens is one is customers are willing to sign long-term contracts and pay a higher prepayment and per kilogram or a higher percentage of prepayment for the contract, right? I think that's really a sign of customers are really willing to pay upfront, you know, to secure supply. Another situation we're seeing right now is that actually we usually contract around the end of the month for next month volume. Actually, customers now are eager to pay us ahead, you know, right after the contract is signed so that, you know, they could get on the delivery list so that they could get earlier delivery of polysilicon for their order as well.
Basically, you know, as Ming just said, I think, the first one, most important, we right now, I think take the advantage of the, you know, the supply, tight supply. We are going to sign some contracts. Basically, I think a majority of quantity is forecast, I think, next three years. We collect, you know, high percentage of down payments. I think that's what we're doing right now.
Great. Thank you.
Okay. I have one more question regarding the competition landscape. What do you see in the relatively longer-term development for this polysilicon supplying business? Do you think that there will be a big player and several smaller ones with roughly equal capacity? Or you expect will have four to five manufacturer with similar scale? The second following question about this is what would be Daqo's long-term market share target in this supply?
I think basically, you know, the silicon, I think, you know, industry is different, you know, from the middle, I think upstream the solar industry, like wafer, cell, and module. We are chemical industry, you know. First of all, we need a, you know, heavy caps, you know, capital investments capacity, as you can see our balance sheets. Secondly is long-term investment, you know, circle. Third is, you know, requirements for environmental, for the safety, you know, all these. I think this industry, if you look at last year Q2, you know, our selling price, almost, you know, this industry, you know, I only think we make a little money. I think all the industry, other players lose money. Basically, this industry is not, just like, you know, you see the glasses. Glasses is even, less technology than the polysilicon, you know.
You have to remember that in this industry, you know, one of the player, you can know that, they have the money, all right, in Xinjiang, but they take the five years, they still didn't, you know, keep up, you know, the quality, like a first tier, you know, player. I think in the future, maybe in this industry, maybe, you know, will be survive only four to five players there. Those four or five players will forecast, I think continue R&D, the investments and, you know, the capacity, I think expansion. I think definitely, I think Tongwei is one of the bigger player, as you can see that. They also continue to vertically integrate, and we know we don't know the future, what's going on. Okay.
How much percentage of their polysilicon will be go to vertically integrate? How much will go to the market? Definitely, I think Daqo is one of purely, I think, a silicon producer player. We will not touch, you know, I think, the downstream. We do whatever we expert on. I think we definitely will be one of player, and then maybe I think TBEA is one of player. Also, I think, Asia Silicon is going to IPO. We don't know the future, whether they can successfully IPO or not, raise enough money to keep up, you know, play with us, compete with us. Another is New Horizon. I think that's the only, I think, left right now, the major player there.
Okay, thank you. I will pass on the question.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you. Robin.
This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Kevin He for any closing remarks.
Thank you everyone again for participating today's conference call. Should you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you and bye-bye.
This conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.