China Industry: Nov. 30

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Nov. 30 – This is a regular series of relevant industry news from around China.

Air transport
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways and its subsidiary Dragonair carried a total of 2.29 million passengers in October 2010, an increase of 14.1 percent compared with the same period last year. Year-to-date, passenger numbers have grown 11.2 percent.

China Southern Airlines said earlier this month it had transported 7.05 million passengers in October 2010, an increase of 15.1 percent when compared to October last year. In the period between January and October this year, the company’s passenger volume rose 17.2 percent year-on-year to 64.67 million.

Boeing and Air China have said that Boeing’s airplane monitoring system AHM has been installed on 40 aircraft of the airlines’ next-generation 737 fleet. The service, known as airplane health management (AHM), will allow Air China to gather and evaluate critical real-time in-flight data. This will enable the airline to better plan and perform repairs, minimising scheduling impacts, Boeing added.

Air China said on November 18 that it has signed a deal to buy 10 A330 series aircraft and 10 A350s from Airbus, a unit of EADS. At catalogue prices, the planes are worth US$ 4.49 billion altogether.

The air carrier will take delivery of the air planes of the A330 series between 2013 and 2015, while the delivery of the A350 planes is scheduled for 2018 to 2020.

Russian Ural Airlines will boost the number of its weekly services to Beijing to three from the current two, SKRIN reported. The additional flight will be operated on Thursdays. The airline also has a service to Hainan.

Hainan Airlines’ parent, Grand China Airlines, and its Hong Kong arm, Hong Kong Airlines, intend to secure a combined US$ 1.9 billion in Hong Kong initial public offerings slated for 2011, the South China Morning Post reported last Tuesday.

Solar power
Irico Group Electronics said earlier this month it had kicked off the construction of a US$287 million photovoltaic glass manufacturing unit in eastern China, in a bid to bolster capacity.

The facility is located in the city of Hefei in Anhui Province. The first phase of the project, which includes the construction of 12 solar photovoltaic glass production lines to produce 39 million square meters of glass a year, will be completed at the end of 2011. When completed, the unit will be the biggest solar PV production plant in China, the company said.

Canadian engineering firm JNE Consulting said November 9 that it has set up a joint venture with Chinese Daqo Group to roll out a solar panel assembly plant in Canadian province Ontario.

The project, to be located in Hamilton, would cost US$5 million and create 300 jobs, JNE said. It is seen to be completed in two years.

China Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings said on November 18 that it will receive US$452,000 in government funding to enhance its technology for building integrated photovoltaics.

On November 24, China Singyes Solar it will use government funding to build a 20 megawatt solar system on the roof of its manufacturing unit in Hunan, southeastern China.

Chinese solar energy firm Yingli Green Energy Holding said on November 19 that its third-quarter net profit surged 277.5 percent on the year to US$68.7 million and raised its margin and shipments projections for the full year.

Wind power
Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology plans to spend US$324 million of its initial public offering proceeds to support various projects developed by five of its subsidiaries, Shanghai Securities News writes.

A total of US$95 million of the amount will go towards Beijing Goldwind Kechuang Wind Power Equipment’s project to design 3,000 electrical control system units. Some US$78 million will be spent on the construction of a trial wind power station with a capacity to generate 49.5 megawatts, developed by Urumchi Goldwind Tianyi Wind Power.

The company will also invest US$1.5 million in Beijing Tianyuan Wind Power Logistics, to be used for the setup of a joint venture company specialized in wind power equipment transportation. In addition, Goldwind will inject US$22.4 million and US$120 million into Beijing Tianrun Xinneng Investment and Goldwind Investment Holdings, respectively.

In early October, Goldwind raised US$880 million in a Hong Kong IPO, selling some 395.3 million common shares. Goldwind shares started trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 8.

Chinese Huaneng Power International has received the green light from a Dalian municipal commission to start building the first phase of a 48 megawatt wind farm in northeastern China.

Total investments in the Dalian Wafangdian wind power project are estimated at US$74.5 million. Huaneng Power will provide 20 percent of the amount from own funds, while the rest will come from bank loans.

Singaporean Renewable Energy Asia Group, or REA, has agreed to buy a 49 percent stake in a 49.5 megawatt wind farm in China’s Inner Mongolia region for US$7.2 million, Singapore’s Business Times reports.

German semiconductor-maker Infineon said last Tuesday it had signed a license agreement with Chinese wind power equipment-maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology for core components for manufacturing wind turbines.

According to the deal, Goldwind gets a license to produce Infineon’s insulated gate bipolar transistor stacks, used in converters of megawatt-grade wind turbines.

This industry report brief is courtesy of Aii Data Processing.