Many of China's Solar Panel Makers lose Money, Despite Record Sales

choi

(1) Steven Mufson, China’s Growing Share of Solar Market Comes at a Price. Washington Post, Dec 16, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/bu ... QAhPRWyO_story.html

Quote:

China looks resplendent: "Yet if Chinese solar companies are eating our lunch, they’re also choking on it.

"the United States has a trade surplus with China in solar goods, led by exports of polysilicon, the raw material needed to make photovoltaic cells * * * The United States also exports the solar manufacturing machinery [eg, Applied Materials, GT Advanced Technologies]

"China supplies nearly half of US solar panel imports — 44.6 million units in the first eight months of the year, up from 3.8 million in 2008, according to an anti-dumping petition filed by a group of US firms. Those sales rocketed to $1.69 billion through August of this year from $233.3 million in 2008.

"But GCL Poly, a company with ties to the People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese government, was already revving up production, providing half of the needs of Chinese exporters by late 2010, according to a report by the research group Fathom China. Today the price of polysilicon has crashed to less than $30 a kilogram.

"Then there are solar manufacturers that use thin-film technology, which is cheaper, though less efficient, than photovoltaic panels using crystalline polysilicon [eg, American companies First Solar and GE]

My comment:
(a) A photo caption says, "China's solar panel manufacturing capacity is 32 times bigger than its domestic consumption." By itself, it is not a violation of trade rule--and nobody is accusing of China based on that ration. In the same veinm Taiwan's semiconductor industry produces much more thna it can consume.
(b) It is reported elsewhere that subsidy per se is not against trade rules (set by World Trade Organization, for instance). What distinguishes US and China, Americans say, is China subsidizes its industry for products aimed for export (as opposed to domestic consumption, as US does). In any event, the trade disputes about solar panels are under way, and we will know the outcomes pretty soon.


(2) Keith B Richburg, US, China Embroiled in Trade Spat Over Chicken Feet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wo ... QASphjxO_story.html

Quote:

"Other chicken-producing countries, like Brazil and some European and Middle Eastern countries, have tried to fill the void. But also there has been a very Chinese solution to the impasse — a burgeoning black market for U.S. chicken paws, coming in illicitly to avoid the high tariffs.

"The purchasing manager for Youyou Food Co. in Chongqing City, a famous chicken foot distributor, said many Chinese importers now first ship the American paws to a third country, and then re-label them before bringing them into China to avoid the higher costs. “So the tariff doesn’t really cause any problems for us or other chicken feet consumers in China,” said the manager, who asked to be identified only as Peng.

My comment: Only in web page 2 does the report say new developments, such as teh quotation above. So you need not read the entire text.

(3) Ron White, Port of Los Angeles Sets Record for Exports‎; More US goods than ever are shipped to foreign destinations, helped by a weak dollar and a strengthening manufacturing sector. Los Angeles Times, Dec 16, 2011.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ports-exports-20111216,0,7757413.story
("'California wines are now considered among the best in the world in China, and the depreciation of the dollar has been a great incentive to buy them,' [wine exporter Alvin] Lin said")