The European Commission recently verified that imported solar modules from China will need to be registered. Some solar firms expect the registration process to begin in March and suspect that the registration means there may be a retroactive period if the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation in Europe results in levying punitive tariffs on China-based solar firms.
The effect of this announcement is still debatable. Currently, Europe-based distributors are clearing out 2012 inventories of China-made solar modules. Furthermore, due to the investigation, China-based firms have been lowering shipments to Europe in the first quarter of 2013.
This is mainly because it takes one month to ship China-made solar modules to Europe by freight. If registration begins in March, the solar modules that are in the process of shipping will be affected. Europe-based importers are expected to reduce orders of China-made solar modules this week to avoid possible retroactive tariffs.
According to solar firms, pricing of China-made solar modules in Europe is currently stable, flat compared to the prices before the Lunar New Year holidays.
