Taiwanese solar companies yesterday said they would seek to expand their markets beyond the US, as they face the prospect of heavy duties in the world’s third-largest solar market.
Companies including Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光), Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) and E-Ton Solar Tech Co (益通) made the remarks after the US Department of Commerce on Friday last week announced anti-dumping tariffs on imports of solar panels, solar sells and solar modules from Taiwan, with Motech facing the heaviest duty of 44.18 percent.
“The company has been making efforts to explore new markets and to broaden its client base to minimize the risk of focusing on a single market,” Motech said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock yesterday. “The proposed duty has no significant impact on the company’s business, as it is not yet final.”
Motech said it generated NT$2.27 billion (US$76 million) in direct revenue from the US last year, accounting for 10.63 percent of the company’s total sales of NT$21.35 billion last year. However, US sales contribution fell to 2.4 percent, or NT$270 million, in the first six months of this year, it said.
The company did not provide figures about indirect shipments to the US market.
Solar cell supplier Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶) may have to pay tariffs of 27.59 percent, while other firms may have to pay 35.89 percent, according to the US’ preliminary ruling. A final decision is expected in December.
The announcement sent the shares of Motech, Gintech and Neo Solar plunging by 6.92 percent, 6.9 percent and 6.88 percent to NT$44.40, NT$29 and NT$33.15 yesterday.
To cope with the potential anti-dumping penalty, solar cell maker Danen Technology Corp (達能) yesterday said in a stock exchange filing that it would continue to focus on producing highly efficient solar cells and diversifying its customer base.
Danen expects the penalty to have a minimal impact on its business, with global solar installation forecast to grow to between 42 gigawatts and 45 gigawatts.
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能), the nation’s top solar wafer maker, said it did not rule out building new plants overseas to get closer to its customers.
“Green Energy’s production base should be closer to its end markets,” the company said in a statement. Green Energy also intends to expand its share in emerging markets, it said.
The company said it was not on the US government’s short list of companies which might be affected by anti-dumping levies, because it had not shipped any products directly to the US market over the past two-and-a-half years.
Nonetheless, its shares nose-dived 6.92 percent to NT$25.40 yesterday.
Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker who was also not on the list, saw its stock price drop 6.97 percent to NT$601.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last