Regular readers will know I’m a bit bearish lately on the solar panel manufacturing sector, largely because I believe its recent rebound is being fueled as much by hype as real business after a prolonged downturn. A new report on some of the sector’s so called “growth engines”, coupled with a separate report on a dispute at one of the top surviving players, are adding fuel to my skepticism that the sector’s recent sharp rebound isn’t really happening. At the very least, the recent reports indicate the rebound isn’t nearly as strong as many are claiming, and solar panel makers and their shares could soon be set for far slower growth than many were hoping for. Read Full Post…
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) has joined a growing field of Chinese solar panel makers entering the risky business of speculative development in China, with its launch of a new locally-based fund for solar power construction. The move follows the establishment of self-financed vehicles for similar speculative construction by rivals Trina (NYSE: TSL), Yingli (NYSE: YGE) and wind power equipment maker Ming Yang (NYSE: MY), as they try to create more demand for their products. Read Full Post…
Investors were applauding a new announcement by Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), after it announced a deal that would see it help to finance and build a massive solar power farm in southwest Yunnan province. The deal should indeed help Trina generate big sales for the near-term, as it involves construction of a farm with huge capacity of 300 megawatts of power. But I’m just a bit wary of this kind of development, which will also see Trina pay most of the bills to build the facility. Read Full Post…
The war of words against Chinese solar panel makers is heating up from both sides of the Atlantic, with growing signs that Europe may reconsider anti-dumping duties as the US moves closer to imposing its own new duties on the beleaguered manufacturers. Meantime, 2 of the biggest Chinese victims of the sector’s recent turmoil have risen from the ashes, with LDK and Suntech both announcing new moves more than a year after each became insolvent. Among those 2 moves, LDK’s looks the most worrisome, potentially bringing major new volumes of polysilicon, the main ingredient in solar panel production, back into a market whose current recovery is still quite weak. Read Full Post…
Yet another firm is teetering on the brink of default for a relatively large bond, joining a small but growing list of such companies as Chinese investors learn about the risk of buying debt from shaky companies in struggling industries. This time it’s a little-know construction company called Huatong Road & Bridge Group that’s warning it could soon default on interest and principal payments for 400 million yuan ($65 million) in bonds set to mature later this month. The announcement is the latest of a slow but steady trickle of similar news that hints at distress due to China’s slowing economy. Read Full Post…
China sent an important message to the struggling solar panel sector last week when one of the country’s major manufacturers was forced to turn to global capital markets to raise new funds, hinting that it couldn’t receive the money from state-backed domestic sources. The move sparked a sell-off for New York-listed shares of Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE), as its request for funds met with a frosty response on Wall Street. Read Full Post…
I wrote earlier this week about troublesome signs for the solar panel sector’s fledgling recovery after a revenue warning from Trina (NYSE: TSL), and now we’re seeing another worrisome signal with news that Yingli (NYSE: YGE) is launching a new fund to build solar power plants. This kind of scheme looks eerily similar to one that kicked off the downfall of former industry leader Suntech (NYSE: STPFQ), though there are also a few differences. Still, Yingli’s latest move signals that the industry may not have learned its lesson from the Suntech debacle. Read Full Post…
One of China’s 2 major meltdowns in the solar panel sector has taken a big step forward with word that trading in shares of LDK (NYSE: LDK) has been suspended and the de-listing process formally begun as the company liquidates. Meantime, word of a missed interest payment by a building materials maker is sending the latest signal that China will let more companies in ailing sectors default on their debt rather than pay off their creditors. That’s an important signal for the solar sector, which relies heavily on such debt to finance its operations and where many smaller players are in danger of similar defaults. Read Full Post…
Opportunities for me to write about former solar pioneer Suntech (OTC: STPFQ) are growing fewer with each passing day, as its life as an independent company nears an end with the imminent finalization of its bankruptcy liquidation. That said, a company announcement saying that a new Suntech has emerged after the yearlong bankruptcy storm seems like a good opportunity to write about this company one last time before it and its stock permanently disappear. The announcement features a photo of Suntech’s youthful looking new CEO, Eric Luo, and says the company is preparing a new push into Europe, starting with Britain. (company announcement) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 1-3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU), Tencent (HKEx: 700) Plan Video Business Merger – Source (English article)
JD.com Suffers Data Breach, Says Scale Not Large (Chinese article)
Gap’s (NYSE: GPS) Old Navy Chain Opens First Store in Mainland China (Businesswire)
SMIC (HKEx: 981) Sets Up 500 Mln Yuan Investment Fund (HKEx announcement)
An Independent Suntech (OTC: STPFQ) Sets its Sights On The UK Solar Market (PRNewswire)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on February 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alibaba Offers $1.6 Bln For Digital Mapping Firm AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP) (English article)
China’s Dongfeng (HKEx: 489) Says Held Talks With Peugeot, No Deal Yet (English article)
