From pv magazine Brazil
Brazil imported around 10.1 GW of PV modules between January and May, according to PV InfoLink. This capacity, worth $1.2 billion, exceeds the $1.13 billion import quota set by the Brazilian authorities for exemption from 9.6% import duties on solar modules from January to June 2024.
The next round of tax-free import quotas is set at $1.014 billion from July 2024 to June 2025 and may be exhausted quickly. The government will impose taxes if the import limit is exceeded, and higher shipping costs could also drive up solar module prices.
“The container costs around $2,500 to $2,300, and it recently jumped to $9,300,” WIN Distribuidora Commercial Director Camilla Nascimento told pv magazine.
Nascimento added that there is little room to negotiate transportation, which is carried out in a specific 40-foot container model. “We are ‘hostage’ to using this type of modality. And the ships are very overloaded due to the entire international scenario, the issue of wars has changed international trade and the increase in consumption of Chinese products in Brazil and around the world has increased demand.”
Given the US dollar's 15% increase against the Brazilian real this year and rising freight costs, an increase in PV system costs is expected in the second half of the year, said the executive.
Brazilian consultancy Greener estimates that 60% to 70% of this year's imported volume was for the distributed-generation PV market. The dollar and shipping costs affect PV system pricing, but the entry of low-cost modules due to high Chinese production capacity will mitigate these impacts in the months ahead, it said.
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