The EU Commission in Brussels has apparently not only reduced the minimum import prices for crystalline solar modules from 0.56 ($0.77) to 0.53 per watt, but also the import volumes that can be imported at the fixed prices to Europe, pv magazine has learned from industry sources.
The European Commission's decision, which is understood to have gone into effect April 1, followed publication of the most recent European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) report on market developments, which lowered its PV installation forecast this year from 11.5 GW to about 9.6 GW. As a consequence, the Commission has now reduced the volume of imports by about the reduced percentage of the market's volume from 7 to 5.8 GW, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.
EU Trade spokesperson John Clancy declined to comment on the matter directly but in a statement to pv magazine said: "As part of the agreement of the undertaking from August 2013, the development of the minimum price would be reviewed every three months and the import volume every year according to market developments of international spot prices and consumption in the Union respectively."
The level of installed capacity in Europe last year was much lower than in 2012. According to EPIA data, installed capacity fell from 17.6 to around 10 GW in the period.
In China alone installed PV capacity in 2013 reached about 11.3 GW — more than in the whole of Europe. Chinese magazine Ecns.cn, however, has reported that China's exports of crystalline photovoltaic products fell sharply in the wake of the trade dispute with the EU. Revenue from exported solar cells and solar modules to Europe declined last year by 62 percent to $3.7 billion, the magazine reported, citing figures from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, which also monitors the minimum prices and export volumes.
Translated by Edgar Meza
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.