Taiwanese providers of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules may stand to benefit as the Australian government launches an antidumping investigation into finished and semi-finished Chinese PV imports.
Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday that the Australian antidumping commission will be investigating PV modules imported from China between July 1, 2012, and Dec. 31 last year.
If Chinese firms were found to be dumping, the commission will report the case to Australia’s Congress on Oct. 16, it added.
Chinese modules currently account for 70 percent of the total demand in Australia.
That means that Australian companies could need to start to look for alternative solutions, likely from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, TrendForce said.
Chinese manufacturers could also outsource to Taiwanese companies in a bid to avoid the investigation, benefiting Taiwanese module makers, the report said.
While it will take negotiations and compromises to determine the final results of Australia’s investigation, antidumping and antisubsidy inspections targeting Chinese firms could become a common occurrence in the future, TrendForce said.
Taiwanese makers could play more important roles in the future, but it is critical for companies to think about how to avoid meeting the same fate as their Chinese counterparts while expanding market opportunities, the researcher said.
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