MORE Chinese solar manufacturers are falling into restructuring or bankruptcy, with a deepening oversupply and fierce price wars causing massive financial losses and threatening many smaller players’ survival.
A subsidiary of Zhejiang Akcome New Energy Technology was the latest to declare bankruptcy after it was ordered by a court to undertake a reorganising process after a creditor said the manufacturer “was not able to pay debts” and “clearly lacks solvency”, according to a filing by the parent company on Monday (Jul 29).
China’s world-leading solar industry is grappling with a wave of company failures and consolidation as excessive capacity pushes prices below production costs.
While bigger players such as Longi Green Energy Technology have so far survived billions of yuan in losses by imposing production halts and layoffs, smaller companies have fewer ways to plug financial gaps. The failure of Zhejiang Akcome Photoelectric Technology comes after another smaller manufacturer, Gansu Golden Solar Co., entered a pre-reorganisation process earlier this month.
Akcome has been reporting net losses every year since 2019 and last month had to suspend solar module and cell production in four of its subsidiaries, including the arm that has now been forced into bankruptcy, according to its stock filings. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange terminated Akcome’s listing last month after its shares traded under one yuan for 20 consecutive days.
A Chinese solar industry group last week called for measures to facilitate faster consolidation, including not sending financial help to companies that are set to fail. The group also encouraged larger players to buy smaller plants. BLOOMBERG
