Brussels, 05/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - European solar glass manufacturers are targeting Chinese imports. These imports have already been the object of two Commission investigations, so the Chinese solar glass industry is not yet out of the woods.
Under the banner of the EU ProSun Glass association, European solar glass manufacturers announced on Tuesday 5 February that they would be submitting an anti-dumping complaint to the European Commission against Chinese solar glass and materials used in the manufacture of photovoltaic modules.
Almost 90% of solar glass imported into Europe already comes from China, threatening employment and factories in Europe through the “destructive dumping practised”, stated a press release published by EU Pro Sun. The European solar glass manufacturers association is behind two Commission investigations into unfair competition from solar panel imports and their photovoltaic parts from China. An anti-dumping investigation was launched in September 2012 (see EUROPE 106800) and an anti-subsidies investigation in November the same year (see EUROPE 10726). EU ProSun said that “these are separate initiatives with different corporate supporters, unified by a common goal to restore fair competition with Chinese producers on the EU market”. Milan Nitzschke, the president of the association, warned that “the new case shows that China's strategy to dominate the solar sector is not limited to just solar modules but also affects materials like glass. It's a question of time when equipment and raw material manufacturers will follow”.
The Commission has 45 days to decide whether it will launch a new investigation or not against dumping practices, with Chinese solar glass being the target of a new investigation this time.
At the beginning of November, China retaliated on two occasions to the anti-dumping investigation against solar panel imports. One measure involved an anti-dumping investigation targeting European exports of silicium polycrystalline, the material needed to manufacture photovoltaic cells and another measure involved a complaint at the WTO against feed-in-tariff programmes in Greece and Italy (see EUROPE 10724). (EH/transl.fl)