Its mission statement doesn’t mention China, but there’s no doubt as to what brought together the 20 or so companies that comprise the new trade group EU ProSun: The flood of Chinese solar products into Europe that has pushed a growing number of companies to and over the financial brink.

Pulled together by the German company SolarWorld, whose Oregon-based unit has already taken on China in the United States, ProSun confirmed on Thursday that earlier this week it had brought a trade complaint, accusing the Chinese of dumping solar products in Europe, to the European Commission. The executive body of the European Union now has 45 days to decide whether to launch a full-scale investigation.

image via Shutterstock

“Chinese companies have captured over 80 percent of the EU market for solar products from virtually zero only a few years ago,” SolarWorld Vice President Milan Nitzschke, front man for ProSun, said in a statement released by the group [PDF]. “EU manufacturers have the world’s best solar technologies but are beaten in their home market due to illegal dumping of Chinese solar products below their cost of production.”

Chinese companies denounced the move, as expected, and did so with a new level of urgency and anger.

“If the EU were to follow the precedent of the U.S. and launch an anti-dumping investigation on Chinese solar products, the Chinese solar industry would suffer a fatal blow,” Yingli Solar’s chief strategy officer, Wang Yiyu, said at a briefing held by leading Chinese manufacturers in Beijing on Thursday. “We call on the Chinese government to take all necessary and resolute measures to protect the legitimate interests of the Chinese solar industry.”

In March, U.S. trade authorities, in a preliminary ruling, hit the major Chinese companies with anti-subsidy duties of around 4 percent, then followed in May with antidumping duties of 31 percent. Deposits are already being collected on Chinese imports, pending a final ruling on the case by November, but despite all the angry rhetoric — with the Chinese and within a split U.S. industry – the impact so far appears to have been negligible and recent analysis suggests that might not change.

“Based on this analysis, the … tariff will not materially affect pricing in the U.S. market,” GTM researchers reported this week, citing the Chinese company’s ability to send raw materials to Taiwan to be manufactured, a process known as “tolling.” “Though tolling cells through Taiwan does impose a slight cost increase on manufacturers, it does not prohibit them from pricing modules well below their domestic competitors.”

Europe could be a different matter, however. It’s a much bigger solar market than the United States, perhaps 10 times as large, making end-runs more challenging. Also, according to the Financial Times, the European complaint – unlike the one in the U.S. – includes silicon wafers, from which the solar cells that make up solar modules are made.

SolarWorld factory, Freiberg, Germany. (image via SolarWorld)

But while there’s no doubting the situation is dire in Europe for solar manufacturers in the face of dramatically falling prices — Solar Millenium, Solon, Solarhybrid, Q-Cells, Photowatt, Centrotherm and Solarwatt have all filed for insolvency in the past several months, according to ProSun – ProSun hardly has the entirety of the solar industry on its side.

The Alliance for Affordable Solar Energy, made up of polysilicon suppliers, equipment manufacturers and project developers and installers, has formed to fight trade sanctions. And while ProSun claimed “more than 20 members,” it did not name those other members, saying it was “too risky” for some to go public, nor did it claim to represent a majority of the solar industry.

earthtechling.com

7 Comments on "Solar Trade War With China Goes Global"

DC on Fri, 27th Jul 2012 8:47 pm 



You know, I still cant find anyone selling affordable DIY home solar installations despite all the hysteria about Chinas flooding the market. They are def not being dumped here in the the United OIL states of North America. The best you can find are crappy tiny panels, designed for amerikan RVs in places like Frys that deliver trivial power. Are all panels chinas dumping being store in some gigantic locked warehouse somewhere?

Billt said he had no trouble buying a useful setup in the Philipines. Hardly the case in N.A.

BillT on Sat, 28th Jul 2012 1:59 am 



DC, who runs Washington? Big corporations.

Who killed the electric car 100 years ago? Big Petro. (Think about how refined electric would be by now if it had spread instead of gas engines! And we would probably still be exporting oil and not at war all over the world.)

Who is likely behind the solar electric argument? Big Petro once more.

Not so here in the Philippines where they have wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, natural gas, and yes, coal plants. The one nuclear plant they built during the Marcos years was never opened. Smart people.

Kenz300 on Sat, 28th Jul 2012 12:53 pm 



Quote — ” “Chinese companies have captured over 80 percent of the EU market for solar products from virtually zero only a few years ago,” SolarWorld Vice President Milan Nitzschke, front man for ProSun, said in a statement released by the group [PDF]. “EU manufacturers have the world’s best solar technologies but are beaten in their home market due to illegal dumping of Chinese solar products below their cost of production.”
————————–

China develops 5 year plans for development. Most US and European businesses develop quarterly or one year plans. China wants to be a leader in wind and solar because they see these as being the technologies of the future. By investing in wind and solar they want to provide jobs for their people and continue to be the manufacturer to the world. When you compete with a Chinese company you are not competing business to business. You are competing business to country with the country having an unfair advantage.

BillT on Sat, 28th Jul 2012 3:27 pm 



Kenz…don’t you think that the US corporations have their country behind them also? Ever one of the large corporations have taxpayer subsidies and support. ALL of them. After all, didn’t the government change the laws so they could take their factories and your jobs to China? The idea is NOT to make your life easier, but to make the Master’s lives easier by eliminating the educated middle class. China is just looking out for the Chinese.

DC on Sat, 28th Jul 2012 7:31 pm 



Yes indeed. True, China does have cheaper labour, but cheap labour comes with a price too, namely social unrest. Right now, that cheap labour in China is fuelling massive environmental pollution, which in turn, is beginning to slowly trigger mass protests. As for the US, its king of corporate welfare. The US bases most of it ‘success’ not on its technology , or the hard work of its sheep, but through currency manipulation, co-ercive ‘free trade agreeements’ and in a lot of cases, regime change. That is the to say, the regime the people wanted and voted for gets replaced by one amiable and pliant to amerikan corporate wishes.

None of the standard US tools in its competition toolkit will work against the Chinese. When that happens, the US does what it always does in that situation, whine…a lot.

BillT on Sun, 29th Jul 2012 4:29 am 



DC, pollution PER PERSON is higher in the US of A, than it is in China! And most of that pollution is made in the process of making the Walmart junk Americans buy by the boatload. If it was all still made here, WE would be the big polluters. When we exported our jobs, we sent the pollution with them. Think…don’t react to political garbage.

Harquebus on Mon, 30th Jul 2012 1:43 am 



If these solar Pvs were so great, why is China exporting them and building coal fired power stations instead?