Less than one year after originally filing for insolvency and getting a second chance, German-based SolarWorld has filed for bankruptcy again.
In May 2017, SolarWorld AG–the parent company of SolarWorld Americas–cited price erosion as its reason for filing insolvency, which is essentially bankruptcy. In August 2017, the company’s assets were acquired by SolarWorld Industries GmbH, a new version of the company owned 51% by SolarWorld founder Frank Asbeck and 49% by the Qatar Foundation. Around 600 employees are still working at German manufacturing facilities and the Bonn headquarters, a drop from 3,000 before the first insolvency filing.
This second insolvency filing has been attributed to price dumping from China and the new 30% import tariffs from the United States. SolarWorld Industries GmbH filed an exemption request from the U.S. tariffs, describing its panels as high quality and priced “significantly above the U.S. and international average” and therefore worthy of a lessened import duty.
SolarWorld Americas, headquartered in Oregon, has been operating separately since the original bankruptcy.
Tell Us What You Think!