Belgian solar glass manufacturer Ducatt filed for insolvency last week, according to several local media articles. The decision was determined by the insolvency of German PV module maker SolarWorld, which began the proceedings in mid-May. Around 50% of Ducatt’s sales came from orders placed by the German company.
“There are not sufficient guarantees for a quick recovery of SolarWorld. This makes the survival of Ducatt impossible,” reports local newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen citing a press release from the company. Around 140 employees will be hit by the insolvency proceedings.
On top of this, the European Union is also investigating into alleged illegal state aid the company received over the past years. The investigation started a year ago upon request of two competitors of the company, which claim it has received more than €40 million in state aid.
Ducatt acquired Centrosolar Glas in 2013, but immediately afterwards began to encounter its own problems. At the end of 2015, private investors Noël Esser and Urbain Vandeurzen, and local investment firm Investment-Gruppe LRM, rescued the company from its financial issues.
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Bitter day for the emploees of the company.
And once more a pretty clear message: Import duties, even if they are as high as they are von Solarglass in Europe can`t prevent companies form being not competitive – Ducatt is even more bizarr: ” the European Union is also investigating into alleged illegal state aid the company received over the past years”. Wow: The same EU who made high important duties for Solarglass in 2013 investigates against the company claiming that Chinese manufacturers are dumping! Really wow!
And the story is evne more pervers: As the Glass makers in Europe are a nice Oligopol they used the rush for duties initiated by EU PROSUN and Solarworld. Ok, Solarworld imported Chinese Glass like crazy into the US – for sure until they stopped the publication of import statistics of the US Border Controll. But you may guess they are stilling doing so as the US with high Cell- und Modules duties have no duties on Chinese glass or Junction Boxes and so on.
But in the EU the impressive duties on Glass hindered Solarworld and the other EUPROSUN stupids from buying cheap glass in China. Solarworld was not amused once they discovered that the trade war they started turned against themself in the vision of high import duties on Glass. Such a pitty!
Unefficient production, bad management and – yes- import duties on Glass lead Solarworld into insolvency as we all know. The Ducatt glassmaker followed now- IMPORT DUTIES SHOWED HER STUPID FACE ONCE MORE.