Keith Bradsher, Chinese Solar Panel Giant IsTainted by Bankruptcy; A much-heralded industry, hamstrung by prices and tariffs. New York Times, Mar 21, 2013 (title in print).
Quote:
(a) "Rapid expansion of natural gas production in the United States and a curtailment of subsidies in the European Union also hurt solar panel prices
(b) "Ocean Yuan, the president of Grape Solar, an importer of solar panels that is based in Eugene, Oregon, said he foresaw a series of bankruptcies by big Chinese solar panel manufacturers, some of which have very high debt like Suntech. Chinese manufacturers lost as much as $1 for every $3 of sales last year as they struggled to keep factories open despite plummeting prices.
“'They are bleeding every day: the more they sell, the more they lose money,' Mr Yuan wrote in an e-mail.
"He predicted that European and US solar panel manufacturers would also face crippling financial pressures and that the long-term survivors in the industry would be manufacturers in Taiwan, who have low costs and are not subject to the American import tariffs or the likely European tariffs.
(c) "The Chinese banks quietly asked a court on Monday in Wuxi to declare the operating subsidiary, Wuxi Suntech, insolvent and begin restructuring it. The operating subsidiary notified the court on Wednesday that it did not object to the insolvency petition.
(d) "Another complexity is that Suntech Power is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. The bankruptcy laws there usually do not allow restructurings, with companies tending to be liquidated instead.