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China Solar Pressured as Q3 Shipments Slip, Debt Grows on U.S Tariffs (LDK) (TSL) (STP)

January 7, 2013 1:07 PM EST
Solar stocks are lower on the session following a good run last week on M&A in the segment. Part of the reason for the pressure might be due in part to debt issues at China firms, which was highlighted by Digitimes earlier.

Digitimes noted that companies like Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE), Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), and Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), Jinko Solar (NYSE: JKS), LDK (NYSE: LDK), and Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), saw debt equal to about $17.5 billion at the end of the third quarter. U.S. tariffs on imports as well as loss of inventory value contributed to the gain.

In the third quarter, Yingli saw shipments drop 16.9 percent, Suntech shipments well 10 percent, and Trina shipments fell 9 percent.

Despite the tough quarter, Yingli said it expects shipments to reach over 2.0-gigawatts (GW) in 2012, representing growth over 2011.

China has been aiming to bolster its PV module makers; the country recently introduced the 12th Five-Year Plan, which offers Feed-In Tariffs of 88 cents per kilowatt hour and an installation target of 35-GW through 2015. PV system demonstration projects are also in the works to bolster interest.

Last week, Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings made a $2.5 billion deal to acquire the 579-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP) from SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR). Solars got a boost on the sentiment, many ending the week up 50 percent in 2013 so far.


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