Democratic Senators increase their sniping at the Obama Administration for shrugging aside recovery act “Buy American” provisions.
But that isn’t deterring China’s largest solar module maker. Suntech said it would charge ahead, tripling its U.S sales this year and expanding its market share 5 percentage points to 20 percent.
Chinese Solar Company Suntech sees US sales tripling this year despite mounting Buy American pressures
The all-out assault illustrates how important Suntech considers the profits from its American business at a time when Chinese contracts offer it little or no margin.
Four Democratic Senators took aim at Obama’s Energy Department on Thursday for awarding stimulus money and loan guarantees to wind farms that have bought or intend to buy wind turbines from cut-rate Chinese and foreign producers. They single out one West Texas farm in particular, where $450 million is slated for a project using Chinese-made turbines.
Suntech hasn’t flinched. The company still does the majority of its business in Europe, and especially in Germany, the largest solar market in the world. But fourth-quarter shipments to North America were up 60 percent and sales for 2009 were doubled those of 2008. Suntech expects its U.S. business to triple this year, even as the U.S. solar market doubles in size.
This will increase its market share to 20 percent from 15 percent in 2009. The company’s first U.S. plant in Arizona will begin operations in third quarter.
According to company officials, relatively stable worldwide solar panel selling prices will help profits companywide. Average selling prices declined only 3 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with much sharper declines earlier in the year.
But this stable pricing in the U.S. and Europe is in sharp contrast to China. Though the Asian country is pushing hard to expand solar farms, profitability remains low, says Suntech CEO Zhengrong Shi.
The company has initiatives underway to reduce clots, and no doubt China sales will contribute to earnings growth in the future, Shi said on a Thursday conference call.
In the meantime, sales in Europe and the United States will have to carry the company. That is unless government “Buy American” provisions change the landscape.
It is not news that DOE is corrupt, and the many of the top level appointed administrators are former fund raisers either for Obama or from Al Gore’s climate change scam. One of them came back from living in Australia since Gore lost to GWB to take her position in the Obamanation.