China Solar Shares Take A Hit As U.S. Imposes Import Tariffs

Tallahassee, FL 3/21/12 (StreetBeat) -- China solar stocks are trading lower after the Commerce Department on Tuesday said it will impose import tariffs on solar panels imported from China. The levies will range from 2.9% to 4.73%.

As the New York Times notes, the impact of tariffs that small on the market “could be limited,” but additional tariffs could be added in May when the Commerce Department will consider whether China is dumping solar panels in the U.S. at prices below cost.

• Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) is down 42 cents, or 9.8%, to $3.85.
• Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) is down 59 cents, or 7%, to $7.79.
• Suntech (NYSE: STP) is down 29 cents, or 8.1%, to $3.28.
• Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) is down 22 cents, or 6%, to $3.43.
• JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) is down 9 cents, or 4.7%, to $1.81.

Interestingly, the U.S. solar stocks are also trading lower:

• First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) is off $1.42, or 5.2%, to $26.04.
• SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) is off 37 cents, or 5.1%, to $6.94.

The real issue for solar companies is not dumping by China, but rather collapsing prices and a glut of capacity as all players become more efficient. In the long run, the problems afflicting the solar sector are cross-border. This has turned into a rotten business for everyone concerned – other than energy consumers.

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Yingli Green Posts Loss, Cuts Shipment View

Tallahassee, FL 11/23/11 (StreetBeat) -- China-based Yingli Green Energy Holding Co (NYSE: YGE) posted a quarterly loss, hurt by a steep slide in solar panel prices, and cut its full-year photovoltaic module shipment outlook.

Like other solar makers, Yingli has been hit hard this year as a glut of panels has knocked prices lower, squeezing profit margins and pushing its shares down 64 percent so far since 2010. On Tuesday, Suntech Power Holdings, JA Solar and other Chinese companies reported disappointing earnings and said the market would remain weak into the first half of 2012.

At the request of some U.S. solar companies, the Obama Administration is investigating whether Chinese manufacturers, including Yingli, have engaged in "dumping" their solar panels at below-market prices. Yingli has strongly denied the dumping charge, and China's industry fired back this week, saying it might seek an investigation into possible dumping of polysilicon by U.S. companies.

Yingli Green's net loss for the third quarter was $28.3 million, or 18 cents per American Depositary Share ADS, compared with a year-earlier profit of $68.2 million, or 44 cents per ADS. Revenues rose 36 percent to about $667.7 million. Yingli's gross margin shrank to 10.8 percent from 22.1 percent in the second quarter and 33.3 percent a year earlier.

For 2011, Yingli cut its module shipment forecast to a range of 1,580 to 1,630 megawatts from its previous estimate of 1,700 to 1,750 MW. The revised figure represents growth of about 50 percent from 2010 shipment levels.

Shares of Yingli Green rose 32 cents to $3.86 in trading on Wednesday.

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