May 22 (Reuters) - Solar cell and module maker China Sunergy Co Ltd said it was looking to set up a plant in the United States, after the U.S. government imposed anti-dumping tariffs on solar panel imports from China.

The U.S. Commerce Department set punitive tariffs of around 30 percent last Thursday after ruling in favor of the local firms that said Chinese exporters were dumping cut-price panels on their market.

"We are planning to serve this (U.S.) market with sales from outside China," a China Sunergy executive said on a conference call with analysts.

The company is looking at investing in a module assembly plant in the United States, a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement, adding that the capex would be low as module lines are cheaper than cell production units.

"Our plan in response to the anti-dumping tariffs would be using cells outside China," Senior Investor Relations Manager Elaine Li said.

The tariffs apply to most top Chinese exporters, including Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd and Trina Solar Ltd .

Analysts have said the tariffs may drive these companies to manufacture elsewhere or look for alternative markets.

On the call, the executive said China Sunergy had not sold any modules to the U.S. between last October and the end of the first quarter.

OUTLOOK SUNNY

China Sunergy reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and forecast higher shipments and margins for the current quarter.

The company sees second-quarter cell and module shipments in the range of 145 megawatt (MW) to 155 MW, higher than the 79.9 MW it shipped in the first-quarter.

"New markets are emerging, and we are positioning the company for a gradual shift in demand from West to East," Chief Executive Stephen Cain said in a statement.

The company is trying to expand its market share in China, Australia, India, Japan and Indonesia.

Most solar companies have indicated that they are moving to emerging solar markets to offset steep subsidy cuts in top markets Germany and Italy, but stiff competition and weak selling prices in China and India are squeezing profits.

China Sunergy said it expects weak demand and oversupply to hurt its business during the first half of 2012 and the "challenging conditions" could continue through the year.

"Despite the fact that oversupply is still a significant problem, global demand is still expected to rise this year," Cain said.

The company expects its gross margin to rise to 5 percent in the current quarter from 1.1 percent in the first. However, it forecast a net loss for the second quarter.

First-quarter net loss was $9.5 million, or 71 cents per American Depositary Share (ADS), compared with a profit of $3.5 million, or 27 cents per ADS, a year ago.

Revenue fell 59 percent to $68.5 million.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of $1.34 on revenue of $65 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.