Sunowe’s panel-smuggling trial to resume in Germany
Sunowe’s trial over allegations of PV module smuggling is expected to resume on May 4. The company has been accused of not paying €20 million in anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs.
China’s ‘quasi-monopolistic’ stranglehold on solar noted by EU body
The bloc should accelerate investment into mining and processing within its shores, as well as ramping up recycling, according to European employers and trades unions, with coal workers already equipped with the necessary transferable skills.
German customs bureau launches another probe into illegal PV module imports
The German authorities have issued 14 search warrants in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Berlin. The probe is related to imports of 480,000 solar panels in 2014 and 2015, when the European Union had anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese solar products.
EU nears decision on new minimum price rules
The European Commission aims to introduce a new procedure for determining the minimum import price for Chinese PV panels, after member states have discussed the proposal. It still remains unclear if the minimum import price for solar modules was lowered at the beginning of September or it will be reduced by two cents per watt in October.
EU excludes two more Chinese module makers from minimum price undertaking
The Chinese solar manufacturers AE Solar and Wuxi Saijing have violated the agreement on the minimum price for the import of their modules to Europe.
China H1 solar panel production surges 25% in a year
Data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) reveals a 25.9% rise in solar module production over the first six months of the year, reaching 34 GW. Q2 utilization rates stood at 85%, data shows.
New EU solar pricing proposal ‘divorces prices from reality’, says SolarPower Europe
Intended update for MIP by the European Commission’s DG Trade will set a pricing schedule for panels and cells on the European market that does not reflect market realities, trade body argues.
SolarPower Europe: SolarWorld bankruptcy marks “sad day for Europe”
The European solar industry’s peak body SolarPower Europe says that yesterday’s insolvency announcement, from German-based producer SolarWorld, is regrettable and that it is of “vital importance” that all parts of the solar value chain are present in Europe.
EU freezes minimum import price at China’s request
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce had proposed not to the change the conditions of the minimum price agreement until the end of the interim review. Brussels has now accepted this proposal. In doing so, the European Commission has maintained the minimum import price for Chinese solar modules at €0.46/W.
European Commission confirms 18-month extension of antidumping and anti-subsidy tariffs, with a staged phase-out
The European Union will see an extension to hotly contested duties on Chinese PV exporters by 18 months. A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed the move with pv magazine today, adding that the duties will be phased out, in line with industry cost reductions.
