Trump’s policies have no impact on sales for Canadian Solar

Company upbeat about demand as it fights U.S. tariffs

Canadian Solar Inc. president says U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-coal and pro-fossil fuel policies have not affected sales of its solar cells, though panel prices and its own share prices have fallen.

“I guess Mr. Trump is too busy on other stuff, so I haven’t seen any impact into either project development or the project sales process,” Canadian Solar president and CEO Shawn Qu said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday.

“People are chasing solar projects like crazy,” he said.

While Trump has not hurt Guelph, Ont.-based Canadian Solar’s sales into the country, the U.S. Department of Commerce dealt the company a significant setback with the preliminary release of revised anti-dumping tariffs.

Canadian Solar said it is “vigorously contesting” the early results of the department’s revised anti-dumping and other tariffs on Chinese-manufactured solar panels, which are “hugely different from the past rates imposed on the company.”

The company’s shares closed at US$12.33, falling nine per cent, or US$1.22, on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Canadian Solar, which has large manufacturing facilities in China, booked a US$44.1 million charge in the fourth quarter on previous years’ solar panel sales from China to the U.S.

The company said it has also increased production from its manufacturing facilities in Southeast Asia and Taiwan to serve the U.S. market and avoid import duties.

Canadian Solar shares have fallen 39 per cent over the last year as solar cells and solar installation prices have dropped while manufacturers have steadily ramped up production, creating a supply glut.

“We believe that technology is what set the winners apart from the losses in this run of the industry cycle,” Qu said, noting that the company plans to boost its solar cell manufacturing capacity even while its competitors scale back.

In previous years, Canadian Solar relied on third-party solar cells at various times, which made the company vulnerable to price fluctuations. As a result, Qu said, “For us, ramping up solar cell capacity makes sense.”

The company’s revenues, profits and margins have all fallen over the past year as a result of what Qu called “the industry-wide declines in average selling price that have been persistent all year.”

The company recorded a US$14 million net loss in the fourth quarter, down sharply from $62 million in earnings for the same period a year earlier.

Over the same time frame, Canadian Solar’s revenues declined 40 per cent to US$668 million in the fourth quarter, from US$1.1 billion a year earlier.

Despite declines in revenues and income, the company said it set records for solar module shipments in the fourth quarter and over the course of 2016, and Qu said demand for the products remained firm.