Imports of European solar silicon investigated
By Richard Fu |
November 2, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday launched a trade probe on polysilicon imported from Europe, after the European Union opened similar investigations into Chinese solar products.
The Ministry of Commerce said it will look into whether European polysilicon makers have been improperly subsidized by their governments and selling products at below market prices in China, in response to complaints made by Chinese photovoltaic makers including Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology, a unit of Hong Kong-listed GCL-Poly Energy Holdings.
China is the world's largest solar cell and panel maker, with an export-focused industry that counts Europe as its largest market. Polysilicon is used to make these solar products.
The EU in September launched an anti-dumping probe of Chinese solar products, mulling hefty duties on a Chinese industry already hit hard by overcapacity and waning export demand, as European countries have cut subsidies for solar power amid the debt crisis there.
Prices at record low
Due to oversupply, the global average spot price of polysilicon last week dropped to a record of US$18.30 a kilogram, below the cost of production for the majority of Chinese polysilicon manufacturers, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Hit by imports, China's polysilicon output may fall 25 percent to 60,000 tons this year. Imports may rise 30 percent to 85,000 tons, with the vast majority coming from the US, South Korea and the EU, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
But analysts have said China's polysilicon probe could also put pressure on its own solar panel makers, who are subject to higher raw material prices if tariffs are imposed.
"This will only help a limited number of local Chinese polysilicon producers. It will hurt not only foreign producers but many Chinese wafer, cell, and module makers," Charles Annis, vice president at research group NPD Solarbuzz, said in an October report.
Solarbuzz forecasts average polysilicon prices for photovoltaic applications to fall 52 percent in 2012 and to start to stabilize in 2013 at around US$21/kg. Polysilicon capacity keeps rising because plants started two to three years ago are hard to abandon, it said.
The Ministry of Commerce said it will look into whether European polysilicon makers have been improperly subsidized by their governments and selling products at below market prices in China, in response to complaints made by Chinese photovoltaic makers including Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology, a unit of Hong Kong-listed GCL-Poly Energy Holdings.
China is the world's largest solar cell and panel maker, with an export-focused industry that counts Europe as its largest market. Polysilicon is used to make these solar products.
The EU in September launched an anti-dumping probe of Chinese solar products, mulling hefty duties on a Chinese industry already hit hard by overcapacity and waning export demand, as European countries have cut subsidies for solar power amid the debt crisis there.
Prices at record low
Due to oversupply, the global average spot price of polysilicon last week dropped to a record of US$18.30 a kilogram, below the cost of production for the majority of Chinese polysilicon manufacturers, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Hit by imports, China's polysilicon output may fall 25 percent to 60,000 tons this year. Imports may rise 30 percent to 85,000 tons, with the vast majority coming from the US, South Korea and the EU, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
But analysts have said China's polysilicon probe could also put pressure on its own solar panel makers, who are subject to higher raw material prices if tariffs are imposed.
"This will only help a limited number of local Chinese polysilicon producers. It will hurt not only foreign producers but many Chinese wafer, cell, and module makers," Charles Annis, vice president at research group NPD Solarbuzz, said in an October report.
Solarbuzz forecasts average polysilicon prices for photovoltaic applications to fall 52 percent in 2012 and to start to stabilize in 2013 at around US$21/kg. Polysilicon capacity keeps rising because plants started two to three years ago are hard to abandon, it said.
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