China Enterprise Raises Polysilicon Shuanghe Investigation

According to relevant sources, on October 31, 2012, China's polysilicon enterprises filed a complaint with the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China in August asking for a "double-anti" (anti-subsidy, anti-dumping) investigation of polysilicon produced in the European Union, which has already achieved major breakthroughs. "The filing procedure has been started and the announcement will be announced."

The “Double-Counter” complaint was jointly initiated by China’s four largest polysilicon companies, namely: Jiangsu Zhongneng Silicon, Jiangxi LDK Solar Silicon Technology, Luoyang Zhongsil High-tech, and Chongqing Grand Brand New Energy. From January to June 2012, the total output of these four companies was 28,484 tons, which accounted for 79% of the total domestic production of 36,230 tons.

In 2011, China imported 14,643 tons of polysilicon from the EU, and the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association’s silicon branch data showed that the average price was US$60/kg, with a total value of more than 5.5 billion yuan***.

On September 6, the European Commission formally launched an anti-dumping investigation against crystalline silicon photovoltaic products originating in China. In 2011, China's exports of photovoltaic products to Europe reached US$20.4 billion, and the direct employment population exceeded 500,000, which led to an increase in indirect employment. One million people.

“In the second quarter, there are two or three polysilicon companies in China that can be fully produced, but no one is now fully productive.” said Rui Rui, a senior analyst at solar market research firm Solarbuzz, and the low polysilicon companies in the United States, South Korea, and the European Union to the Chinese market. The price strategy, coupled with the dull market conditions, has enabled the number of domestic polysilicon companies that are currently able to start to fall to single digits.

First, the impact of polysilicon from the European Union China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Silicon Branch statistics, in the A-share listed seven polysilicon companies have stopped production. From a national point of view, at present, of the 43 polysilicon companies that have already put into production, only 7-8 companies are still under construction. The rest have closed production lines and the production rate has exceeded 80%.

In early 2012, four companies as applicants can still start construction. By the second quarter of 2012, two of the two application companies had already closed down the production of Luoyang Silicon and LDK.

“Embarrassed by the difficulties that have not existed in the past decade.” One polysilicon company executive said with emotion that domestic polysilicon enterprises were in the state of production suspension and semi-discontinuation due to the impact of foreign polysilicon dumping, which led to an increase in inventory “financial cash flow difficulties” and bank credit tightening. , Squeezing out new projects, and even tightening the ban on production-suppressing companies, has affected the industry's investment in hundreds of billions of dollars and affected tens of thousands of employed workers.

In 2008, China imported 3,932 tons of polysilicon from the EU, but it rose to 14,643 tons in 2011, and it increased to 3.7 times in three years.

The aforementioned polysilicon executives said that since 2012, the EU's photovoltaic downstream companies have basically stopped production, 100% of their raw materials output, plus Germany's WACKER's new production line put into operation before the end of 2011, the EU's total production of polysilicon will exceed 20,000 tons in 2012 "More output can only be digested by the Chinese market."

Customs statistics show that in Germany alone, the total amount of polysilicon exported to China in the first nine months of this year reached 16,046.795 tons, which exceeded the total export volume of the EU for the whole year. From the price point of view, the price of German exports in September was US$26.8/kg. , Lower than the price of 35.5 US dollars/kg at the beginning of the year, has decreased by 22.3%.

Yan Rui emphasized that Germany only exported 1,213 tons to China in January, and it was just 1,567 tons in August, but it quickly increased to 3,991 tons in September, an increase of more than 255%. "It may be affected by the submission of double counterclaims by Chinese companies in August. Accelerate exports to the Chinese market."

The reporter saw in the petition submitted by the four companies to the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China that during the one-year survey period from July 2011 to June 2012, the costs of transport, insurance, tariffs, value-added tax, and warehousing were excluded. The dumping margin of the investigated products originating in the EU was 11.47%.

According to the demands of the four companies, there are 11 EU polysilicon companies involved in dumping at a low price, including 5 in Germany, 4 in Italy, and 1 each in France and Spain.

"Not only low-cost dumping, including WACKER and other European companies have received a number of government subsidies and policy in the past 10 years, making them competitive in terms of cost in the face of China's polysilicon companies. The reason for countervailing lawsuits.” The executive said that WACKER, for example, has received over 400 million euros in government subsidies in the past 10 years and obtained 3 from European banks in 2002, 2008 and 2009. Policy **, ** The principal amount is 850 million euros.

Second, put forward the retrospective period With the development of China's photovoltaic industry, the domestic market demand for solar grade polycrystalline silicon continues to climb, in 2008 the apparent consumption of 16,544 tons in 2011 to 146,131 tons, up to 78% in four years.

“The current consumption of domestic battery module companies is expected to be no more than 10,000 tons/month. Currently, four companies in the countries that have filed an application can supply them completely. These four companies are also among the top ten polysilicon companies in the world,” said the aforementioned photovoltaic executives.

For example, the executive said that the current price offered by domestic manufacturers to the market is at US$17/kg, “already completely on the market.” The current average overall price of imported polysilicon is US$26/kg, and some of the long-term orders performed are as much as US$35 to US$40/. kilogram. If it is not (the EU enterprises) dumping in the spot market, domestic companies can compete with foreign companies completely. “Even after the double reverses, we will not raise prices and remain in line with international prices.”

If the EU anti-silicon company's dual counter-initiatives will take place, this will become another important measure for the foreign polysilicon industry after July. On July 20th, the Ministry of Commerce decided to conduct anti-dumping investigations on polysilicon imported from the United States and South Korea and conduct countervailing investigations on polysilicon imported from the United States.

The reporter also noticed that in July and August, the imports of polysilicon from the United States and South Korea did not decrease. Take the United States as an example. In August, China imported 7,124 tons of polysilicon, which was equivalent to that of July, but the proportion of US product occupation increased from 41.2% to 45.5%.

"But from September's data, September imports of 8719 tons of polysilicon, a record high, Germany accounted for nearly 5 percent of the import ratio, indicating that the ratio of the United States and South Korea dropped very much."

The aforementioned executives told the reporter that following the investigation of the US and South Korea's polysilicon, the Ministry of Commerce observed the import surge in July and August according to the situation presented by the company. In September, the Ministry of Commerce made a retroactive ruling, “October. The impact on US and South Korean companies has only begun to show."

"Since September, EU polysilicon companies have made surprise assaults to China, so we immediately requested submitting a retroactive application after the filing of the case to block the period of the investigation period. From the initial investigation to the preliminary determination, it will normally take three months to investigate. Period." The executive said.

Some Chinese polysilicon executives believe that the price of polysilicon fell from the highest point in 2008 to 300 US dollars/kg to the current value of US$17/kg. Chinese companies are contributing to this, “and they started with less than 10% of the domestic market share. With a market share of around 50% in 2011, companies require fair competition. The senior executive pointed out that the Ministry of Commerce also approved the company’s claims through investigations. “In September, anti-dumping applications for polysilicon were accepted, and counter-subsidy applications were accepted in October.”