Chinese Solar Companies Report Weak 2Q Results, Rising Shipments

Solar-equipment manufacturers based in China have taken hits from the global recession and rapidly escalating industry competition. But there are signs that Chinese solar firms could emerge stronger than many of their competitors.

While their bottom lines look bad now, most companies say shipments of photovoltaic (PV) module are rising fast, a sign that demand for solar power is rebounding.
Industry analyst Paula Mints at Navigant Consulting said that the Chinese solar players, especially Suntech, are aggressively cutting their prices in a move to get ahead of competition. Though many experts earlier warned that manufacturing overcapacity would hit the industry hard this year, Mints sees firms mostly keeping capacity high to take advantage once sales rebound.

“They are already at overcapacity. What they are doing is slowing the expansion in capacity, however, since demand will return,” Mints said. “Next year, I think we’ll be back to conservative growth. Year after that, probably accelerated growth.”

New York Times