Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), the nation’s biggest solar cell producer, yesterday reported a sixth consecutive quarterly loss for last quarter as price rises proved insufficient to outweigh its costs.
Losses widened to NT$1.04 billion (US$35 million) last quarter, from NT$790 million in the third quarter, the company’s financial statement showed.
That brought last year’s losses to NT$5.04 billion, a sharp rise from losses of NT$2.46 billion in 2011.
Prices of solar cells rose 0.83 percent week-on-week to US$0.363 per watt last week, extending a two-month run of increases, according to Taipei-based market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技).
“The market situation is in favor of [solar cell] suppliers because they are raising prices amid a rise in order numbers,” TrendForce said, citing growing demand from Chinese companies amid trade disputes between China and the EU.
Following the lead of the US, the EU in September last year launched an investigation into whether Chinese solar panel producers exported their products to the bloc at prices lower than market value.
The EU is likely to impose anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese solar panels, if it rules that Chinese firms sold their products in this way.
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer producer, yesterday posted its best monthly revenue in six months.
The firm’s revenue grew 13.67 percent to NT$923 million last month, aided by price rises of up to 5 percent, compared with January’s NT$812 million.
However, the figure was a 0.2 percent decline from NT$924 million in February in 2011.
Green Energy said demand for its solar wafers was increasing. Its factory utilization exceeded 95 percent during the Lunar New Year holiday that fell last month.
Motech shares rallied 6.86 percent to NT$32.7 yesterday, while Green Energy shares jumped 5.19 percent to NT$28.4.
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