- Chinese module manufacturers exported 29.67 GW of panels in the first two months of this year, according to new figures released by China’s General Administration of Customs and study of PV research firm InfoLink Consulting.
Total exports for January totaled 14.85 GW, with a 32% increase compared to December 2022 and 55% growth on January 2022. In February, module exports reached 14.82 GW, with a slight decrease compared to January and a 6% increase compared to February 2022.
Europe imported 8.6 GW in each month, which represents an increase of 120% and 48% respectively compared to the same periods a year earlier. In 2022, Europe imported a total of 86.6 GW of PV modules from China.
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In the Asia-Pacific market, China’s PV panel exports reached 2.5 GW and 3.1 GW in January and February respectively, a decrease of 13% and 47% compared to the same months last year.
The year-on-year decrease was mainly due to India, which in 2022 imported about 8.9 GW of PV modules from China, but 8.1 GW of them were imported in the first quarter before the basic customs duty (BCD) tariff on imported equipment tariff was introduced.
After the first quarter of last year, demand for Chinese modules in India rapidly declined, with an average monthly import of only 88 MW. However, demand in India significantly rebounded at the beginning of 2023, with 395 MW imported from China in January and 643 MW in February.
In the Americas, Brazil was the main importing country, accounting for 70% of the overall imports to the region.
The Middle East saw an increase of more than 200% in PV module imports from China in the January-February period, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia accounting for 62% of the region’s overall market. The source of demand is mainly based on several large utility-scale projects, and there is still more solar under construction in the region.
In Africa, South Africa is the main source of demand, accounting for 61% of the total imports to the region. Despite low demand for Chinese PV modules in Africa, South Africa imported a total of 571 MW from China, three times more than in the same period last year.
Author: Vincent Shaw
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
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