Panasonic to shut down Hungarian PV module plant - report

Jul 5, 2013 - Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp (TYO:6752) intends to close its solar module production facility in Hungary, the only one it has in Europe, in March 2014, under a reogranisation plan, the Nikkei said today.

The Hungarian plant assembles finished products with main parts shipped from Japan and other countries. It will cease operations in September and 500 workers will made redundant, according to the daily. The factory's annual production is estimated at about 20%-30% of Panasonic's total solar module output that stands at some 600 MW.

After closing its European manufacturing base, the Japanese firm will have solar module plants only in Osaka and Shiga prefectures and one in Malaysia.

Panasonic expects to boost its sales of solar cells by 25% year-on-year to 675 MW in fiscal 2013/14, the Nikkei reported last month. The projection is motivated by the fact that more and more homeowners in Japan are going solar as a result of the increasing electricity tariffs.

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