direct imports from China. The US market is crucial, as their profit margins on sales there can reach as high as 40 per cent, compared with just 10 to 20 per cent in other markets, said Ms Yana Hryshko, head of global solar supply chain research at Wood Mackenzie. The companies also gained from a two-year tariff exemption granted by the US, which expired in June 2024, on solar panel imports. But the US announced a new round of tariffs in 2024 on solar panel imports from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, in a bid to close loopholes exploited by China-owned firms. The US views the influx of cheaper Chinese solar panel imports as a threat to its domestic solar energy industry. Most solar panels installed in the US are made overseas, and around 80 per cent of imports come from these four South-east Asian nations. According to a preliminary decision posted on the US Commerce Department’s website in November, the agency calculated dumping duties of between 21.31 per cent and 271.2 per cent, depending on the company, on solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The department is expected to make its final determinations in April 2025. The closure and scaling down of operations at these big players in Malaysia have had a knock-on effect on smaller, Chinese-owned firms in the supply chain, a local banker said. “Many of our clients are these smaller, Chinese-owned firms from the supply chain of the solar panel industry who are closing down because they are unable to supply their products to the major solar panel manufacturers that have shut operations,” said the banker, who declined to be named. Ms Yana said more Chinese solar panel makers will exit the Malaysian market in 2025, which could potentially mean more than 5,000 workers losing their jobs, resulting in lower tax revenue from the sector.  A senior official who also declined to be named told ST that Malaysia’s government agencies are in talks with some of these companies about using their spare capacity to spur the country’s transition to renewable energy. “The manufacturing facilities are already built, so we are exploring whether they can be used to supply solar panels to local power producers,” said the official. The ongoing US-China rivalry, particularly if escalated under the Trump administration, could result in Chinese investments in Malaysia declining further. (ICE KUALA LUMPUR)

Fonte notizia: 23 Gennaio 2025, The Straits Times