China Industry Report: Apr. 26

Posted by Reading Time: 5 minutes

Apr. 26 – This is a regular series of relevant industry news from around China.

Marine transport and shipbuilding
•Shipping Corporation of India said on April 15 it has inked an agreement for the purchase of two resale Supramax bulk carriers with Chinese Grand Yard Investments.

The two 57,000 deadweight-ton vessels will replace some of the company’s Handymax ships. The vessels are currently being built and the company expects to receive them in four to five months. In addition, the Indian firm has ordered six Handymax bulk carriers from China’s STX Shipyard. The vessels will be delivered this year or in 2012.

In total, Shipping Corporation of India has ordered 31 vessels with an overall capacity of 20.22 million deadweight tons, allocating some US$1.39 billion. The orders comprise crude oil and dry bulk carriers as well as cellular container and offshore supply vessels.

Solar power
•South Korean polysilicon producer OCI Co Ltd has said has secured a US$359.7 million polysilicon order from Taiwanese flat panel display maker AU Optronics. Deliveries will be made through 2018, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The order follows a US$919 million contract for polysilicon supply from Chinese Jingao Solar, which OCI received late in March.

•China Solar Energy Holdings Ltd announced that it had finalized the US$45 million acquisition of domestic thin-film solar photovoltaic module maker Target Samoa on April 15.

Target Samoa has two wholly-owned units – Changzhou WFOE and Dali WFOE – both engaged in the production of thin-film photovoltaic modules and related accessories.

Following the acquisition, China Solar adds amorphous silicon thin-film module production to its current operations. Through the deal, the company also seeks to bring certain synergies between the new unit’s business and its existing ones.

China Solar paid for the acquisition with the issue of US$39.7 million in stock and US$5.2 million in five-year convertible notes with no coupon. The shares have been priced at US$0.016 apiece, equal to the average closing price of the company’s stock for the last five trading days. The notes are convertible into stock at the same price. Combined, the issued stock and the converted shares would equal 28.24 percent of China Solar’s enlarged share capital.

•Chinese solar wafer maker LDK Solar said on April 18 it had repurchased US$351.8 million of its senior convertible notes maturing in 2013. The notes were issued on April 15, 2008, and bear a coupon of 4.75 percent.

In 2008, LDK Solar issued US$400 million of senior notes convertible into its American Depository Shares at an initial conversion rate of 25.45 American Depository Shares per US$1,000 of notes. By April 15, 2011, the company redeemed US$13.4 million of the notes. On December 29, 2010, it exchanged US$31.9 million of the convertible notes with an equivalent amount of new convertible notes.

As much as US$34.8 million of the notes remain outstanding, including the new convertible notes, LDK Solar said.

•Chinese monocrystalline wafer maker Comtec Solar Systems Group said last Tuesday that it has secured up to US$150.5 million in financing from private investor TPG Capital via bonds and warrants sale. Comtec plans to use the proceeds to boost production capacity.

Following the agreement, TPG will subscribe for US$100 million of unsecured convertible bonds maturing 2016 and US$50 million in warrants. The bonds bear zero coupon and are convertible into Comtec’s new common shares at an initial conversion price of US$0.502 per share. If not converted, the bonds will be repurchased at face value upon maturity.

TPG will receive 95 million warrants, each allowing it to subscribe for one common share at an initial price of US$0.527 per warrant. TPG will hold 295 million Comtec common shares, equal to 21 percent of the company’s share capital, if the bonds are fully converted and the warrants fully exercised.

•Chinese solar energy firm Yingli Green Energy Holding Co Ltd said last Tuesday that it has signed an exclusive photovoltaic module distribution deal with Japan’s YHS Co Ltd.

Following the agreement, YHS, a joint venture of residential rooftop solar systems firm West Holdings Co Ltd and hardware tools company Super Tool Co, will be the exclusive distributor of Yingli Green modules in the Japanese residential market from March to December.

Under a 10 megawatt photovoltaic module distribution contract as part of the distribution agreement, YHS will buy 10 megawatts of photovoltaic modules from Yingli in the second half of the year.

•China Datang Corp Renewable Power Co Ltd, Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co Ltd and Australian CBD Energy Limited will set up a joint venture in Australia, Xinhua news agency wrote.

The aim of the joint venture, dubbed AusChina Energy Group, is to develop US$6.5 billion of renewable energy projects over eight years and to become a significant participant in the Australian energy market.

Datang Renewable will own a 63.75 percent stake in the joint venture, CBD Energy will hold 23.75 percent, and Baoding Tianwei 12.5 percent.

•Indian solar photovoltaic cell maker Indosolar Limited said in a bourse filing it has sealed a memorandum of understanding with China’s GCL Solar System Limited. Under the MoU, the parties will explore the possibility of developing solar power parks in India.

The companies will finalize details of the agreement “in due course of time,” Indosolar added.

Wind power, hydro power
•Chinese SDIC Huajing Power Holdings Co Ltd announced last week its power facilities have generated 20.96 million MWh of power in the first quarter of this year, up by 22.37 percent in annual terms.

The company, a developer of wind, thermal and hydropower plants, sold to the grid 19.94 million MWh for the period, or 22.58 percent more than a year earlier.

•UK-based clean energy consultancy SgurrEnergy said earlier this month it has been contracted by power producer Hong Kong Electric Co to deploy a device for gathering offshore wind speed and directional data in Hong Kong. This would be Asia’s first Offshore Risk Quantification Analysis (ORQA) deployment, the consultancy said.

ORQA is a data monitoring equipment designed to gather a full meteorological, environmental, wave and tidal conditions offshore and will be used to provide information for the planning and construction phases of a proposed wind energy project that will be located in Hong Kong’s Lamma Island.

SgurrEnergy will deploy its Galion Lidar, a second-generation laser-based device for capturing wind speed and directional data. Lidar is a remote sensing technology being used in wind power applications.

•Canada-based China Wind Power International Corp said last Tuesday it has obtained final approval from China’s government for the construction of four new 49.5 megawatt wind farms totaling 198 megawatts.

The 198 megawatts represents Phase III of the firm’s five-phase plan to build about 800 megawatts of wind-generated electrical power. The four new wind farms will be situated in Du Mon County, Heilongjiang Province, China, adjacent to the company’s Phase I and II plants.

China Wind said it is currently finalizing the construction and supply contracts for Phase III with a major wind turbine maker. The company expects to start construction of Phase III before the start of the third quarter of 2011 and projects initial commercialization to begin by the end of 2012.

This industry report brief is courtesy of AII Data Processing.