Solar module manufacturer JinkoSolar Holding has announced that its holding subsidiary, Shangrao JinkoSolar Industry Development, plans to invest RMB315 million (~$48.64 million) in equity in Inner Mongolia Xinte Silicon Materials Company – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xinte Energy Company.

The investment will be used to construct a high-purity polysilicon production line with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons. Once the transaction is completed, the company will hold a 9% stake in Inner Mongolia Xinte.

Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar, commented, “We believe that this investment is a solid growth strategy and will help stabilize silicon material supply and reduce supply chain volatility. In addition, by cooperating with specialized upstream manufacturers, we will continue to strengthen the advantages of our integrated capacity and solidify the foundation for mass production of high-efficiency modules year-over-year.”

Earlier in April this year, JinkoSolar told Mercom that the spiraling prices of raw materials like glass, polysilicon, and silver since the second half of 2020 have led to a sharp increase in the prices of solar modules. As a result, supply constraints could continue until the second half of this year, and the current prices of modules were the best that can be projected for the next six months or even longer.

JinkoSolar said that the fresh surge in downstream demand had driven the polysilicon shortage to crisis levels. The Global Vice President at JinkoSolar, Dany Qian, said that polysilicon prices are not expected to drop for at least six months. The company’s general manager for South & Central Asia, Daniel Liu, had stated that Jinko is not backing out from any signed deals with its Indian customers due to the raw material supply shortage and the rising prices. The company has had record shipments to India in CY2020 and Q1-2021.

According to Mercom’s recently released report India Solar Market Leaderboard 2021, Jinko was one of the top module suppliers to India in the calendar year 2020. Jinko’s solar supply market share in India in 2020 was 11%. Jinko also announced that its operating subsidiary, Jinko Solar Company Limited (Jiangxi Jinko), has raised RMB 3.1 billion (~$458 million) through equity financing. The equity financing was to help Jiangxi Jinko qualify for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s sci-tech innovation board (STAR Market) and raise the necessary capital for its expansion plans.