China PV Glass Exports Rose Continuously in Jul amid Strong Demand in Southeast Asia

SHANGHAI, Aug 24 (SMM) - China exported 223,900 mt of PV (photovoltaic) glass in July, an increase of 1.6% MoM and 39.2% YoY. The imports stood at 400 mt in the same month, down 29.4% MoM and 97.2% YoY. PV glass recorded a net export of 223,500 mt in July. In addition, the exports totalled 1.26 million mt from January to July, a drop of 3.1% YoY. The imports were 2,300 mt from January to July 2022 in total, up 13.2% YoY.

The export volume in July added 1.6% month-on-month mainly contributed by the rapid growth of exports to Southeast Asian countries due to the exemption of photovoltaic tariffs of the United States toward the four Southeast Asian countries.

Southeast Asia is the hub of domestic photovoltaic enterprises, and the products are exported to the United States through Southeast Asia. In June, 2022, the White House issued an emergency statement saying that due to the impact of anti-dumping and anti-investigation, there has been a serious shortage of photovoltaic product imports in the United States recently, and photovoltaic installations are seriously lagging behind. In face of great pressure, the U.S. President Biden granted additional authority to the Minister of Commerce on the same day to exempt the tariffs on photovoltaic modules imported from the four Southeast Asian countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia) in the next 24 months, and the photovoltaic glass of the four countries is mainly supplied by China. As a result, China's PV glass exports to the four Southeast Asian countries have increased significantly.

Meanwhile, the impact of the European energy crisis, India's "carbon neutrality" goal, and the development of photovoltaic in the United States have further increased the demand for Chinese photovoltaic products in foreign markets. SMM expects that the export volume of PV glass will continue to increase in August.