China and the West at odds over solar panels
At the moment, and it has been going on for several months, there is a trade war between China, the United States of America and the European Union over solar panel renewable energy.
Well, this dispute has escalated further following China’s announcement that it has launched an investigation into the import of solar-grade polysilicon from the European Union. China is the largest importer of this material in the world.
According to IHS iSuppli, a market research firm, the worldwide market for polysilicon is worth in the region of $7.4bn per annum.
The latest investigation was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce following complaints received from four Chinese solar businesses. The investigation will cover a period between 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. The complaints surround allegations of subsidies and dumping of solar grade polysilicon by the European Union.
Just to give you an idea of the scale of this, in 2011, Chinese imports of this grade of polysilicon amounted to $870 million based on customs data for China. According to data from HIS iSuppli, Germany is the largest manufacturer of polysilicon producing 16% of the world’s polysilicon.
China is in fact the largest producer of solar panels in the world with the vast majority being exported so, when the USA imposed antidumping tariffs on them and the EU launched an investigation into the trading of solar panels being exported from China, it came as no surprise, back in July, when China started a trade investigation into polysilicon that was being manufactured by Korea and the USA. It seemed only a question of time before they did the same with the EU.
China is also a huge importer of specialist equipment that is needed to manufacture solar panels.
A response is awaited from the European Union and we will keep you updated.
