EnThe U.S. renewable energy industry may be stabilizing after a marked downturn after the elections in November.Imports of wind energy equipment – including gearboxes, nacelles and blades – increased 91.5% and in absolute terms reached their highest since November 2015. Shipments were led by Siemens exports of gearbox systems from Germany. Imports of solar power equipment were 25.2% lower on a year earlier in April, but that was the slowest rate of decline since November. It was also 3.5% above April 2015’s level.
Source: Panjiva
One potential threat to imports comes from a trade case brought by Suniva. That coincided with its bankruptcy filing, as outlined in Panjiva research of April 26. While that case does not appear to have broad industry support, PV Tech reports, there is a risk that solar-related equipment may be caught in a potential “ section 232” review of the semiconductor industry. Prior trade cases had eliminated supplies from China and Mexico, with replacement supplies coming from Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Source: Panjiva
A further round of trade cases may require shippers to find alternative production locations. Leading Chinese producers Trina Solar and Jinko Solar moved production to Vietnam among other locations and could move again. The fastest growing suppliers though have been Hanwha Q-Cells (117% higher in April on a year earlier) and Panasonic. The latter has only entered the market in the past three months, and may have taken on volumes previously supplied by Flextronics out of Singapore.
Source: Panjiva
Chinese manufacturers have also identified new markets when blocked by trade cases. For example while exports from China were 5.7% on year earlier there has been significant growth in shipments to India. Those sales, led by Trina Solar and JA Solar, accounted for 30.7% of exports in March from 3.7% in 2015.
Source: Panjiva
