The International Exhibition on Green Industry of Shandong is organized by the Department of Environmental Protection of Shandong province, and is held every two years. It has been recognized as an international EP show and contributed a lot to the construction of an environment-friendly society. The 5th International Exhibition on Green Industry & Shandong High-level Forum on Construction of Ecological Province will be held in the Shungeng International Exhibition Center in Jinan, Shandong province from August 31 till September 2, 2012. On the theme of “Developing Green Industry, Constructing Ecological Province”, the 5th  Green Exhibition aims at promoting green production, green consumption and green living, building a market platform of environmental service, promoting the popularization and application of advanced environmental technologies and the harmonious development among economy, society and environment, and highlighting the supporting role of the EP industry on ecological construction in Shandong province. The exhibition is composed of five sections: Comprehensive Exhibition on Energy-saving and Pollution Reduction Projects; Exhibition on Energy-saving and Environmentally friendly Technologies and Products; International Exhibition on Energy-saving and Environmentally friendly Technologies and Products; Green Products Exhibition; and Technical Forums. Four sessions of the Green Exhibition have been held successfully since 2004. It aims to build the market platform of the environment protection industry and promote cooperation and exchanges through exhibiting the latest EP technology and products. Green Exhibition received much attention both at home and abroad. Participators included 2,245 international organizations and enterprises from 24 countries and regions including China, Korea, Japan, U.S., Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Spain, Russia, Mongolia, Singapore, Denmark, the Netherlands, Hongkong, and Taiwan reached 8,694 agreements and contracts. Leaders from the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), the Korean Ministry of Environment, the U.S. Commerce Department and delegates from 49 Northeast Asian countries and regions were present at the opening ceremony. Shandong has established successful EP industrial cooperation mechanisms with Korean and Japan through the exhibition.

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Solar power equipment and parts will remain in major global oversupply and product prices will continue to be under downward pressure for at least another year, according to Shi Zhengrong, Chairman of Suntech Power Holdings. He said the Chinese government should consider asking banks to relax lending to companies in the solar industry, many of whom are reporting widespread losses, tight cash-flows and rising interest expenses. “It is difficult to say when oversupply will be corrected. I’d say it will take at least 12 months,” Shi said on the sidelines of the SNEC International Solar Industry and Photovoltaic Exhibition & Conference. “I don’t see any sign of a product price rebound.” New York-listed Suntech, which is based in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, reported a net loss of USD1 billion for last year, compared to USD237.9 million profit in 2010, as product prices fell faster than costs were reduced. Declining sales due to lower subsidies in the main market for solar – Western Europe – were more than offset by growth in other markets, led by the United States and China. But sharply lower panel prices due to intense competition cut profitability markedly. The global solar power panel manufacturing capacity is around 70 gigawatt (GW) a year, of which 50 GW comes from China, according to Li Junfeng, Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association. Last year global panel installations amounted to only 27 GW. But Li does not have much sympathy for solar panel manufacturers. “The difficulties the industry players find themselves in were not caused by poor industry policies or weak demand. The overcapacity was created by the manufacturers and their financiers,” he told a panel discussion. “It’s a danger we warned the industry about years ago, yet it still could not be prevented. If we give them more financing, wouldn’t capacity grow even faster? The industry must discipline itself; it can’t expect a government rescue.”

Major Chinese solar panel makers, facing punitive tariffs imposed by the United States, appealed for a “peaceful solution” as the Sino-U.S. trade dispute on renewable energy seemed to be escalating. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced it found the U.S. government provided renewable-energy companies with unfair grants prohibited under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The Chinese government will extend an investigation of the subsidy for three months, in what market watchers described as a retaliatory move to Washington’s introduction of anti-dumping tariffs of 31% to 250% on Chinese solar panels. Chinese solar companies urged Beijing to avoid a trade war and iron out the trade dispute through talks. Yingli and Suntech Power, the world’s largest producer of solar panels, are among the 14 companies that formed an alliance in Shanghai to protect the embattled PV sector. Suntech Chief Executive Shi Zhengrong told a press conference that he was confident the U.S. Department of Commerce would scrap the punitive measure against Chinese firms. To make the finished product, Chinese solar companies import materials and purchase U.S. technologies worth a combined USD5 billion a year. Shi said Europe could follow the U.S. in introducing anti-dumping duties on Chinese companies, which could deal a still heavier blow. Europe accounts for about 70% of sales for many Chinese solar companies.

Honghua Group, one of the world’s largest producers of land-based oil and gas drilling rigs, plans to take minority stakes in shale gas exploration projects in China in a bid to forge closer ties with its customers. Honghua Chairman Zhang Mi said that when private firms were given the green light to invest in shale gas projects it would take small stakes in them – possibly as a co-investor with state oil and gas producers – to try to facilitate sales of its drilling equipment and engineering services. A sum of HKD592 million had been set aside from the proceeds of the group’s stock market listing in 2008 to fund oil and gas exploration and the provision of related products and services, said Zhang. A new generation of drilling rigs that were more cost-effective and space-saving were being trialled on the market, he said. Natural gas is used to generate power to drive the rigs instead of diesel, which makes drilling more cost-effective, since gas is cheaper than oil in China and the United States – countries that are among the world’s richest sources of shale gas. Bidders in the second round must be China-registered firms with registered capital of at least CNY300 million and “good” financial records – effectively opening the door to non-state-owned Chinese firms. Honghua posted a net profit of CNY168 million last year, after suffering a net loss of CNY184.2 million in 2010 and a loss of CNY127.3 million in 2009, when orders were cancelled or delayed after the global financial crisis made it difficult to get financing. Overseas sales accounted for 90% of revenues last year.

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, the world’s largest producer of polysilicon, the raw material used to make solar panels and wafers, expects consolidation in the severely oversupplied industry to continue until the end of the year before gradually recovering next year. The Jiangsu-based company aims to ride out the downturn through continuous product-cost reduction and quality improvement, Chairman Zhu Gongshan said after its annual shareholders’ meeting. “The solar-equipment industry will continue to undergo consolidation in the year’s second half, and hopefully it will gradually recover next year,” he said. Zhu said that despite a sharp slowdown in demand, the largest and most cost-competitive wafer producers were still reporting healthy sales growth albeit at much lower profit margins. He also expected global solar panel installation to reach at least 35 gigawatt (GW), up from about 27 GW last year, a 30% growth. KGI Securities Analyst Jennifer Liang tipped a 10% increase to about 29.5 GW, while industry consultancy IHS has predicted installations of 29.5 GW to at most 35 GW. Global panel-production capacity is about double this year’s installation. The downturn has hit GCL’s customers, who make solar cells and modules, harder than producers of polysilicon and wafers. Suntech Power, the world’s largest module maker, based in Jiangsu too, has reeled in losses since last year. GCL, which posted a HKD4.3 billion net profit last year, is forecast by 30 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters to see a 67% profit plunge this year to HKD1.4 billion.  GCL-Poly Energy Holdings sold 4.5 GW last year and 1.2 GW in this year’s first quarter. KGI’s Liang estimated that GCL’s overall gross profit margin would sink from 33% in last year’s second half to 11.8% in this year’s first half, before recovering to 14% in the second half, the South China Morning Post reports.