Taiwanese solar cell manufacturers are expected to benefit from the a ruling yesterday by the US Department of Commerce, which raised import tariffs on Chinese solar cell makers from 17.5 percent in an earlier ruling to 30.61 percent, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said.
The hefty import tax is set to increase costs for most Chinese solar cell makers by at least 10 percent, forcing them to place orders with Taiwanese suppliers to dodge higher import taxes, the Taipei-based research house said.
The researcher’s comments came after the department yesterday made a final ruling on breaches of anti-dumping and anti-subsidies regulations by Chinese manufacturers in 2012, upholding its preliminary ruling of a combined 30.61 percent levy on China’s top solar cell makers.
“Taiwanese cell makers with overseas operations will benefit from this ruling over the next six months, before Chinese manufacturers start ramping up overseas plants,” TrendForce analyst Angus Kau (高嘉熙) said.
Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽科技) and Tannery Tech Co (太極能源), which aggressively allocate capacities to tariff-free countries such as Malaysia, are likely to get more orders, Kau said.
The ruling is also likely to boost Motech Industries Co (茂迪), as the company is levied at the lowest import tariff of 11.45 percent among local peers after an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation launched by the US last year, Kau said.
Most local firms face a 19.5 percent tariff rate.
In light of rising demand from China, Taiwanese firms are expected to raise their prices by between 3 and 5 percent this quarter from last quarter, which would help make most local makers return to making a profit this quarter, Kau said.
The nation’s top three solar cell makers, Motech, Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光能源) and Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶), lost NT$487 million (US$15.59 million), NT$467 million and NT$295 million in the first quarter respectively. Solar tech lost NT$325 million, while Tannery reported profit of NT$26.74 million in the first quarter.
The ruling lifted stock prices of those solar cell makers by 4.44 percent to 8.69 percent yesterday, bucking the local market’s downtrend.
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SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
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