US PV trade barriers are getting higher, Chinese companies are forced to build factories locally

  In the past, China attracted a global collection of solar PV production lines due to its lower cost. However, as the economies of Europe and the United States continue to slump and employment pressures become more severe, the trend of such processing and manufacturing industries gathering at a low cost is being reversed due to trade barriers.
Recently, the Linuo Group is preparing to acquire a US factory. This is because the US government has just introduced a new policy, requiring the military to purchase solar panels must be "made in the United States" to ease employment pressure, so solar photovoltaic plants began to reconsider moving the production line back to developed countries, and thin profits have to face high The test of cost.
Made in the USA "The company is planning to acquire a US PV plant and expects to complete the acquisition within two weeks." Zhang Beiwen, director of the overseas business unit of Linuo Group, said that investing in the US will become a passport for the company to enter the US market.
Although Zhang did not disclose the name of the factory, according to him, this is a photovoltaic plant that has been discontinued, with a capacity of 60 megawatts, acquisition plus operating costs, liquidity, and investment of about 20 million US dollars.
In fact, the most familiar mode of operation for the entire Chinese PV industry, including the Linuo Group, is to use domestically produced products with low cost advantages and then sell PV products to countries around the world in the form of export trade.
"Investing in the United States to build a factory is a last resort choice." Zhang Beiwen said that because if you continue to maintain the past export trade, it is likely to lose the market in the United States.
On January 7, 2011, US President Barack Obama signed the Military Empowerment Act, which included a less-appealing "buy in the United States" clause, that is, the Ministry of Defense must purchase "solar photovoltaic products" as "MADEINUSA."
The clause was added with the support of some lawmakers, and one of the drafters, New York State Democratic Congressman Sickey, said that the United States used to invest a large amount of money in overseas markets, especially alternative energy sources. But now the United States does not need to be a fake hand, but to witness the production of the land.
“The solar photovoltaic industry is relatively special. The market is growing rapidly with the support of fiscal policies from Europe and the United States, but most of the manufacturing capacity is in China. Since the US military is the largest energy consumer in the United States, this bill will be for Chinese PV manufacturers. A heavy blow." Zhang Beiwen said. According to the plan, by 2025, one quarter of all the energy used by the US military must come from clean energy such as solar energy.
At present, the US Congress, including Siqi, is working to promote the US government to purchase US-made solar photovoltaic products. Once this policy is implemented, the vast majority of Chinese PV companies will be blocked outside the US market.
High costs According to the World Bank report, industrial production in the United States has fallen by 16.3% in the past two years, the largest decline since the Great Depression of 1929. In terms of the contribution rate of manufacturing to GDP, the United States currently ranks only 13.9% after all industrial countries except France. At the same time, almost 2 million manufacturing jobs have disappeared since the crisis of December 2007.
Zhang Beiwen believes that the US government originally believed that the core technology is in the home country, and the manufacturing industry is not important. But in the midst of a recession and a surge in unemployment, the United States is changing its original view. American politicians, including Obama, who are about to participate in the new presidential campaign, will reduce unemployment as the main political card.
Insiders of China Renewable Energy Association also said that China's solar energy raw materials are polysilicon, and the core technology is monopolized by developed countries in Europe and America; the vast majority of production lines are purchased from abroad; more than 95% of the downstream markets are abroad. The technical content of the production and processing links is not high. More of the above-mentioned bills should be considered in terms of employment.
"Once China's PV products cannot enter, the US market will form a vacuum. If anyone can produce in it, they will have a market." Zhang Beiwen said.
In fact, it is not just this solar company that is brewing in the United States. Wang Zhixin, the publicity department of Yingli Group, told this newspaper that the company is planning to invest in the United States, and the current factory work is still in progress. This is Yingli Group's first overseas factory.
Wuxi Suntech also regards “holding Europe and catering to North America” as its market strategy. Zhang Jianmin, manager of Wuxi Suntech's public relations, said that the company's factory in the United States has been completed, and it is expected that the production scale will reach 50 megawatts by the end of this year. Zhang Jianmin admits that enterprises have already felt the impact of the US anti-dumping policies on clean energy. By setting up factories in the United States to increase local material procurement and local workers' employment, they can avoid market obstacles.
The average profit margin of solar cell and component manufacturers is generally around 15%, and the cost is directly related to the company's profitability. Zhang Beiwen admits that the biggest difference between setting up factories in China and the United States is the huge difference in costs. For example, an American blue-collar has an average annual wage of at least 30,000 to 40,000 US dollars, which is several times that of the country.
"The reason why the solar panel factory to be acquired is discontinued is because the product cost is too high and there is no market competitiveness. However, in order to gain market share in the United States, Linuo will not make money in the near future, or even short-term losses, from the long-term strategy. It’s worth doing.” Zhang Beiwen said that the entire industry is waiting for the outbreak of the US market, which is very tempting for any solar PV manufacturer. At the same time, Linuo also plans to try to get government projects to ensure investment profits.