China probes polysilicon from US and South Korea

China's Ministry of Commerce is in a position to start anti-dumping and countervailing investigations into exports of polysilicon, a material used in solar manufacturing, from the United States and a similar investigation into polysilicon exports from South Korea.

The investigations are being undertaken in response to requests made in March by domestic leading polysilicon makers, including GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd, LDK Solar Co Ltd and Daqo New Energy Corp, 21st Century Business Herald reported on Tuesday.

China imported 64,600 tons of polysilicon in 2011, up 36 percent from the previous year. According to an average of polysilicon prices set by the market and prices fixed by long-term contracts — which comes to $40 a kilogram — China's imported $2.59 billion worth of the raw material. Sixty percent of those imports came from the US and South Korea.

The first five months of the year saw China import 34,000 tons of polysilicon, worth $960 million. The US supplied 41.4 percent of that and South Korea supplied 22.2 percent.

"Because of the low price of polysilicon imports from the US and South Korea, 80 percent of Chinese polysilicon producers have been driven out of business, causing 5,000 workers in the industry to be out of work," the newspaper said.

In a preliminary ruling in May, the US Department of Commerce imposed anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 31.14 percent to 249.96 percent on imported solar panels from China after it had imposed countervailing duties of 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent on Chinese panels in March.

The US Department of Commerce is scheduled to make a final ruling on its investigation into Chinese solar products in early October and the US International Trade Commission is expected to make a final decision in the case in late November.