Jinko Solar withdraws from EU Price Undertaking – MIP does not reflect market price anymore

09/09/2016 | Print view

Chinese PV manufacturer Jinko Solar also quits the EU Price Undertaking agreement, as Trina Solar already did end of last year. - © Jinko Solar — © Jinko Solar

Chinese PV manufacturer Jinko Solar also quits the EU Price Undertaking agreement, as Trina Solar already did end of last year.

Jinko Solar yesterday announced its withdrawal from the EU Price Undertaking agreement. However, the company underlined its committed to European customers.

Under the terms of the EU Price Undertaking (UT) agreement that Jinko Solar was party to, Chinese companies selling solar cells and solar panels in the EU must sell at a price above a fixed Minimum Import Price (MIP). Chinese solar manufacturers that did not accept the UT agreement faced anti-dumping (AD) and anti-subsidy (AS) duties, which for Jinko Solar were 41.2% and 6.5%, respectively.

UT agreement no longer conducive

“After careful strategic consideration, Jinko Solar believes that the UT agreement is no longer conducive to the ongoing expansion of its business in the EU", the company announced. Jinko Solar also believes that trade protectionism only harms fair competition in the market, hinders the development of the entire PV industry, and hurts PV consumers.

MIP no longer reflects the current market price

Chairman Xiande Li, Chairman of Jinko Solar, commented: "After carefully reviewing our EU operations, we believe that the current MIPs no longer accurately reflect the current market price environment given that average selling prices (ASPs) in all major EU markets continue to decline, and seriously erode our competitiveness in those markets. We feel our competitiveness and market power were being unfairly hampered and have opted to withdraw from the UT agreement.”

Continued supply to European customers

“We believe that we will be in a better position to leverage our strong brand name, industry-leading technology, global production facilities, and large customer base once we withdraw from the UT agreement. We remain committed to our European customers and will continue to supply them with the high quality, reliable products we have become synonymous with”, Xiande Li stressed.

Trade measures are due to be revised March 2017

Already in December 2015 Trina Solar opted out of the UT agreement. In July 34 solar and renewable energy organizations called on the EU to immediately drop trade measures on Chinese solar panels and cells. The trade measures are due to be revised by the EU in March 2017. (HCN)