By Colleen Howe
BEIJING- Two of the world’s largest solar panel producers said they were suspending some production in Southeast Asia this week, after a US tariff reprieve on solar panels from some Southeast Asian countries expired.
China’s Long Green Energy Technology said on Friday that it had suspended production at a battery plant in Vietnam, while Trinasolar said on Thursday that facilities in Thailand and Vietnam would enter a maintenance shutdown.
Longi said its further decisions would follow an evaluation of market conditions. The company said the production halt in Vietnam would have limited impact on its operating performance, given the country accounted for less than 10 percent of Longi’s total battery production capacity in 2023.
Longi also said that some of its other plants in Southeast Asia that had been reported closed by media remained in operation.
While not specifying which media reports it was referring to, it said its plants in Malaysia and component plants in Vietnam were in operation.
The news comes after Longi said on Tuesday it would “adjust” production citing a “complex industry environment” but that it remained optimistic about the sector’s future.
A two-year US tariff holiday on solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries expired on Thursday.
The tariffs aim to target shipments by companies found to be dodging US duties on Chinese goods by finishing panels in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Over 80 percent of US solar imports have been coming from the four targeted countries, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Analysts say the end of the moratorium will have a significant impact on solar export volumes from Southeast Asia to the US and that US buyers have already slowed new purchases of modules and cells from the region in anticipation.
That will force Southeast Asia-based manufacturing to scale back or redirect supply to other markets, where it could struggle to compete with cheaper panels made in China.
Separately, rival Chinese panel producer Trinasolar said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday that its facilities in Thailand and Vietnam, which primarily serve the US market, would enter an annual mid-year maintenance shutdown.
