Rivals accuse China, the world’s largest producer of solar panels, of selling products at a loss to put competitors out of business.
The EU acted earlier this month following a complaint by a group of 25 producers of solar gear, including companies from Germany, Italy and Spain.
The EU investigation is expected to last 15 months, but if there is strong early evidence of dumping it is possible to impose temporary duties within nine months.
The on-going dumping investigation will be one of the main items in the agenda of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as he visits Europe of the latest round of the China-EU dialogue.
STORYLINE:
The sun is no longer shining on China’s solar industry.
The lustre has disappeared from the once gleaming industry that was the hope for China’s transformation to a technological powerhouse.
Once dubbed China’s green city, Baoding was home to numerous solar manufacturers, and business was booming.
And now the solar panels are stacking up, but no one is buying them.
Sales are slow, the demand is diminishing and the government subsidies that once fuelled the success of the solar panel industry are shrinking.
On top of that, United States and European authorities are moving forward with separate dumping investigations into Chinese-made solar panels that could lead to a trade case in the World Trade Organisation.
And while China has vowed to fight the dumping allegations, the demand for solar has gone cold.
Local solar companies say they will go out of business if the anti-dumping allegations are upheld.
Liang Tian, director of Public Relations, Yingli Solar says “If the EU confirms our dumping, it would be a severe blow to our company. At this moment, the impact is not too obvious. But this investigation has already forced us to sell our products in razor-thin profit, and we’re having a hard time. If the EU charges us with high tariff afterwards, we won’t be able to sell out about 60 percent of our products, and our company will face a threat of production cuts and could even go bankrupt.”
At this solar employee gathering, thousands of workers being asked to be patient and endure the bump in the road.
Today in Baoding, home of Yingli Solar, one of the most important manufacturers in the country, the company’s CEO, Miao Liansheng, holds a meeting to explain the situation to his staff.
According to Yingli, the rally with 6,000 employees marks the transformation of the plant into a state-of-the-art facility capable of managing China’s energy needs. Yingli can provide business solutions and run power stations itself.
“All the chances and opportunities are in our own hands. We must grasp these opportunities. All the sectors of management must hold together following the company’s strategic plan,” says Miao.
“We have to stay together to overcome these difficulties, to fight our way out, to win the future”, says Yingli boss to a uniformed and disciplined audience of company employees.
In typical Chinese style, they might spout nationalist Communist songs, but their wages are driven by China’s economic engagement with the rest of the world.
Suffering overcapacity and hit by anti-dumping moves by the US and Europe, the Chinese solar panel industry is facing serious difficulties a decade after communist leaders designated it as a model industry for China’s technology leap.
Companies have been hurt by weak sales, especially in debt-crippled Europe, the leading global solar market.
Manufacturers have also been hit by Chinese government policies that encouraged hundreds of small companies to rush into the industry. They flooded the market and depressed prices.
One of them, LDK Solar Co., also reported an eye-popping loss of $588.7 million the previous quarter.
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Post time: Feb-09-2017