GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd (HKG:3800) expects an increase in polysilicon prices for the second half of the year, driven by a rise in demand and a processed polysilicon imports embargo, South China Morning Post said Friday.

The lower price for the raw material over the past few months is a result of the fewer number of orders, which is typical for the first quarter of the year, executive president Zhu Zhanjun was quoted as saying after the annual shareholders meeting on Friday. In the January-March period of 2015, GCL Poly saw average selling prices (ASP) for polysilicon decrease by 11.7% year-on-year to USD 19.14 (EUR 16.96) per kg.

The Hong Kong-based company expects prices to gradually start increasing from July onwards. Still, based on PVinsight data, the average polysilicon price will drop 21% year-on-year in 2015, Jefferies Securities analyst Joseph Fong has said last month, as cited by the newspaper.

In August 2014, China’s Ministry of Commerce decided to stop from September 2015 the import of polysilicon under the “processing trade” rules. These rules allowed for duty-free imports from the US, the EU and South Korea as long as the finished products were exported, the report explains.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.886)