Yan Zhuang: Hey, Philip. As you already know that the destocking actually started in Europe for, like, end of Q2, it’s already started. So it’s been two quarters already, and we believe, by Q1, it should be somehow finished. And once that channel is coming back with such a dramatic price reduction over the past year, we should see strong demand coming back. And so and as you know that we have a pretty strong presence in that channel. So we anticipate a strong coming back in Europe and other markets as well. So and this is — we’re in a price-elastic market. So with such a price reduction, the demand is going to be stimulated to a much higher level. It just may not happen right away, but it’s going to be — maybe some delay in a few quarters, a couple of quarters will come back on the utility side as well.
So we had some demand reduction on the utility side as well over the year due to different bottlenecks on EPC, on interconnection, on some equipment, but also some speculation, because people expect module price coming down, so they decide to delay. But over the course of next year, we should see the utility demand also should come back strong. So we actually see — we actually anticipate a strong demand pickup in latest second half — second half of next year.
Philip Shen: Great. Thanks for all the color, Yan. Shifting to the US market, you mentioned in your remarks that a 150 megawatts product was detained. Looking ahead, do you expect risk for new shipments to be detained? And how many gigawatts do you think you could ship into the US from Southeast Asia in 2024? And as it relates to the detention, what type of bomb is in the module that has been detained? How long do you expect the detention to last, and do you expect it to spread? Thank you.
Yan Zhuang: Well, so we’re actively cooperating with CBP on the submitting the documentation. And we’re actually very confident with our traceability procedures and from our knowledge that both non-China and China silicon, you know, has passed through the customer. So we’re working with them and we’re confident that we can resolve this soon.
Philip Shen: Okay. Yeah, thank you.
Yan Zhuang: And for next year — for next year, we should have a strong growth, as Shawn has mentioned, in the US.
Philip Shen: Can you share how many gigawatts you think could be in the US next year?
Shawn Qu: Well, Philip, as you know, we used to have about 4 gigawatt solar cell capacity in US, and we are now building a 8 gigawatt TOPCon capacity. Not in US, I’m sorry. 4 gigawatt of solar cell capacity in Thailand, and we are now ramping up another 8 gigawatt of TOPCon solar cell. Now, most of those capacities are built in order to serve the US customer. I guess, that’s the information I can provide to you at this moment.
Philip Shen: Okay. Thank you, Shawn. Another question here. What is your base assumption of the size of the US market overall in 2024? I’ve heard other Chinese companies suggest that the US market could be 80 gigawatts of module shipments with maybe 50 gigawatt of installation, which seems pretty high. I was — so I was wondering what you think the 2024 baseline could be in your base case. Thanks.
Shawn Qu: Now, I want to check if our Senior Vice President, Thomas Koerner is online. Thomas, are you online? Thomas? Okay, forget it. Next time. So, Yan?
Yan Zhuang: Yeah. So actually —
Operator: Thomas’ line is now — is now live.
Yan Zhuang: Okay. So, actually, we’re seeing — also seeing — anticipating a strong growth of US market demand next year. I’m not sure about 80 gigawatts, but they should be much higher than this year. That’s our estimate.
Philip Shen: I think Thomas might be available now. On what — what’s the basis of that strength? You know, utility scale might grow 10% to 15%. Residential, I see down 10% — 12% actually. And then commercial might be flat to up, but it’s not a big market. So just curious, where do you anticipate that strong growth? Thanks.
Operator: Thomas, your line is now live.
Yan Zhuang: Well?
Thomas Koerner: Hi. This is Thomas. Can you hear me?
Philip Shen: Yes, thanks.
Operator: Yes.
Yan Zhuang: Yeah, Thomas.
Thomas Koerner: We are seeing a significant revival and ramp-up of utility projects mid to the end of 2024. And as also Shawn and Yan has already outlined, the deployment through distribution channel should be finished by Q1, latest by Q2 next year. You’re already seeing distribution companies to reorder and restart ordering for the beginning and Q2 next year. So once the inventory has been deployed in the residential channel and some rooftop markets, we are seeing customers coming back and reordering products in anticipation of a pretty strong 2024 US market.
Philip Shen: Okay. Great. Thank you for the color, guys, and taking all the questions. I’ll pass it on.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Brian Lee with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed with your question.
