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Diving certificate:
- Toyo Solar plans to build a 2 gigawatt photovoltaic solar module and cell production plant in the United States. Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter, according to a securities announcement.
- The Japan-based company plans to raise $100 million for the projects and reap the benefits of inflation-reduction tax, its earnings figures showed. presentation.
- The rapid expansion of production to the U.S. comes as the company faces global trade investigations into its Vietnam facility, according to its H1 report. Result announcement.
Diving insight:
Toyo Solar recently public in the United States on July 2 after it completed the merger of Vietnam Sunergy Cell Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyo, and Blue World Acquisition Corp.
The company started operations at its first manufacturing facility in Vietnam in October 2023 and has so far delivered 1.3 GW of solar cells to customers. The second phase of construction is scheduled to begin later this year, according to the securities filing.
However, the expansion into the US comes after foreign trade headwinds in the solar industry. According to the company’s statement, annual solar module shipments are expected to reach 2.5 gigawatts in early 2024, based on demand from solar companies, especially in the US.
Due to a U.S. trade investigation into solar manufacturers in Southeast Asia, including Toyo Solar’s plant in Vietnam, the company and its key customers have decided to reduce shipment volumes until preliminary investigation results are released, which are expected between September and November. As a result, Toyo Solar expects to ship orders totaling over 1.9 GW for the full year of 2024, according to the press release.
In June, the International Trade Commission submitted a customs application from seven U.S. solar manufacturers, including Qcells and First Solar, and called on the agency to impose new anti-dumping and countervailing duties on some solar cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
If the tariffs are introduced, the total cost of modules in Southeast Asia would rise from 24 cents per watt to 40 cents per watt. Report from Clean Energy Associates found.
“To address this situation, we are accelerating our plans to expand our manufacturing presence in the United States while increasing shipments to customers in India, the Middle East and other markets,” Toyo said in a press release. “Our strategy to build an integrated value chain in North America to serve our U.S. customers remains unchanged, and we will continue to monitor and adapt to the dynamic conditions of the industry.”
