Chinese solar stocks surge on regulation speculation: Shares in Chinese solar manufacturers soared last week amid speculations about government measures to address oversupply, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Speculative news that the Industry and Information Technology Ministry might introduce rules to limit polysilicon production drove the shares up, with companies like Xinjiang Daqo New Energy seeing a 48% increase, while Trina Solar and Xinyi Solar Holdings surging by 35% and 32%, respectively. Analysts from Daiwa Capital Markets and Citigroup, however, remain skeptical about the long-term impact of these potential policy changes.

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An industry outlook: The solar sector has shown signs of recovery despite recent struggles due to industry overcapacity largely driven by Chinese producers. The anticipation of significant policy changes, including the possible retirement of less-efficient polysilicon plants, has fueled investor optimism. Analysts from Tebon Securities suggest that improving risk appetite could create more investment opportunities in the sector. However, some investors, like Ginny Chong from Mondrian Investment Partners, caution that profit margins remain under pressure, and the overall industry capacity is still expected to rise.

India’s Waaree Energies sales skyrocket on debut: Shares of Indian leading solar panel maker Waaree Energies surged 75% soon after a USD 514 mn initial public offering, Bloomberg reports. The successful IPO — which was 70x oversubscribed — values the company at INR 431.8 bn (USD 5.1 bn), with about 287 mn shares outstanding.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • Rwanda sees surge in hybrid vehicle imports: Tax exemptions in Rwanda on hybrid and electric vehicles have led to a substantial increase in imports, with hybrid car imports rising 237x from 2021 to 2024, reaching over 7k vehicles, The East African reports, citing Rwanda Revenue Authority data. The policy, costing Rwanda around Rwf 14 bn (USD 10.36 mn) in foregone tax revenue, aims to ease the financial burden of acquiring EVs and hybrids.
  • Germany to limit solar subsidies amid rising costs from oversupply: The German government plans to tighten solar subsidy eligibility to address rising costs on the government. Solar oversupply has recently led to negative power prices during high-sun periods, which forced the government to field higher-than-expected feed-in tariffs. Under a new draft law, solar installations built before 1 January, 2026, with more than 90 KW of capacity, will no longer be eligible for feed-in tariffs The capacity threshold will continue to further drop gradually each year until it hits 25 KW by 2028. The subsidy bill could reach as much as EUR 20 bn this year. (Bloomberg)
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