Korean solar stocks jump as curbs on China expected to stay in place

Shares of South Korean solar companies Hanwha Solutions and OCI Holdings jumped more than 8% on Wednesday, as U.S. restrictions on Chinese solar products came into focus ahead of the Trump-Xi summit. 

The two leaders are set to meet in Washington this week, with trade expected to be among the key issues discussed.

Hana Securities said it was highly unlikely that the U.S. would ease restrictions on Chinese solar products as part of the talks, arguing that Washington increasingly views solar as a strategic industry tied to national security.

“If the U.S. were to ease restrictions on Chinese solar products at the U.S.-China summit, it would effectively mean stepping back from efforts to build a domestic supply chain for a strategic national security asset,” analyst Yoon Jae-sung said in a note Wednesday.

He named Hanwha Solutions and OCI Holdings as top picks in the sector, citing a low likelihood of an unfavorable outcome from the U.S.-China summit. 

Yoon added that any tariff reductions discussed in the talks were expected to focus on non-strategic goods, pointing to Trump’s signing of Section 232 measures on polysilicon and its derivatives in August on national security grounds.

Solar has become a strategic asset spanning AI and semiconductor power demand, semiconductor supply chains, defense and space, making efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese supply increasingly important to Washington, he added. 

Wednesday’s stock moves came hours after Hanwha Solutions’ solar unit Qcells welcomed actions by the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to curb what it called the “illegal stockpiling” of imported solar panels, as the Trump administration moves to implement Section 232 tariffs on polysilicon and its derivatives.

Qcells said the measures would help prevent importers from circumventing U.S. trade policy and support domestic solar manufacturing.

“Flooding the U.S. market with large volumes of imported products is a strategy that companies abroad have long used to undermine American manufacturers,” Qcells Global CEO Andy Park said in a statement. 

Qcells, which describes itself as the largest silicon-based solar manufacturer in the U.S., has invested $2.5 billion to expand its solar manufacturing operations in Georgia, where it produces solar cells and panels.

OCI Holdings also has a significant U.S. presence through its subsidiary OCI Energy, which earlier this month broke ground on new solar facility in Texas.