GreenergyDaily

Apr. 30, 2025

1. Chinese solar manufacturers continue to plunge deeper into the red while sky-high tariffs on exports threaten to compound domestic oversupply.

2. Five of the biggest names in the industry — JA Solar Technology Co., Jinko Solar Co., Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Tongwei Co. and Trina Solar Co. — published first-quarter earnings overnight, racking up over 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) in losses between them. Their combined loss last year was less than 2 billion yuan, when two of the companies were still profitable.

3. “Prices across the main segments of the solar industrial chain were low in the first quarter,” Jinko said in its earnings statement. “This, combined with disruptions in demand caused by changes in international trade policies, pressured profit margins in each segment of the integrated solar supply chain.”

4. The first takeaway is that, according to Bloomberg, the industry's so-called self-discipline measures — essentially voluntary output controls agreed upon by dozens of manufacturers last year — haven't really worked yet.

5. The second is that conditions will only deteriorate if the worst of the Trump administration's tariffs come into force. Those include staggering levies as high as 3,521% on four Southeast Asian nations where Chinese firms had based much of their production to circumvent US duties.

6. The new tariffs, which were announced earlier in April, should be finalized in coming weeks, assuming that the US trade regulator determines the imports have been detrimental to American producers. That could force another round of costly relocation for the troubled industry.

7. CSI Solar Co., an affiliate of Nasdaq-listed Canadian Solar Inc., said on Monday it's preparing to move capacity to other regions facing lower duties. JA Solar said earlier this month it's planning to speed up efforts to globalize its manufacturing, including by opening a plant in Oman.