JinkoSolar decides to leave EU price undertaking

Chinese solar firm JinkoSolar Holding (NYSE:JKS) said Thursday it is withdrawing from the European Union (EU) Price Undertaking (UT) as it believes the agreement is hampering its competitiveness on the market.

Following the move, the products of the photovoltaics (PV) maker will no longer be subject to the EU-China trade rules for solar equipment. JinkoSolar was to face anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of 41.2% and 6.5%, respectively, had it not complied with the fixed minimum import price (MIP) rule under the UT.

The company said that such trade protectionism only stands in the way of fair competition on the market, obstructs the development of the entire PV industry and ultimately hurts end-consumers. Moreover, the UT agreement does not align with the ongoing expansion of JinkoSolar’s business in the EU anymore, it said.

“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 (ASP) in all major EU markets continue to decline, and seriously erode our competitiveness in those markets,” chairman Xiande Li noted. The Chinese solar major will remain committed to its European customers and will continue to supply them, he added.

In December 2015, Chinese sector player Trina Solar Ltd (NYSE:TSL) also withdrew from the UT by choosing to serve the EU solely from its tariff-free PV production plants overseas.

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