China ramps up solar panel exports

Bloomberg

The world’s largest solar panel maker is selling a great deal more overseas to keep its domestic industry afloat.
China’s exports in the third quarter soared 66 percent from a year ago after the government’s decision to cut support for the local solar power industry dented domestic demand. Shipments to Australia more than doubled and tripled to Mexico, making up for a tumble in sales to India, its biggest buyer.
“Companies realise they have to step up efforts to explore new markets,” said Jiang Yali, an analyst at Bloomberg NEF in Hong Kong. “Without diversified markets, panel makers will struggle to survive.”
The export surge shows how Chinese manufacturers are trying to make up for shrinking sales at home and falling prices. Beijing in June announced a surprise decision to clamp down on new solar plants and curb financial aid to developers after record installations in 2017. That may shrink China’s share of new global solar capacity for the first time in four years to 39 percent from 54 percent a year ago, according to BNEF forecasts.
Producers sold abroad 12.3 gigawatts of panels during July-September, the biggest quarterly exports since at least 2016, according to data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Machinery & Electronic Products. That compares with 7.4 gigawatts the same period last year and 9.6 gigawatts the prior quarter.
The value of the exports in the third quarter rose about 39 percent from a year earlier to $3.56 billion, slower than the growth in shipments because product prices have tumbled, CCCME’s data show. Prices of photovoltaic panels slumped about 27 percent from end-May to September, according to BNEF data.
Chinese solar makers “may have intended to sell more overseas due to increasing demand,” said Zhang Sen, secretary-general of the photovoltaic production unit at CCCME.