Solarworld AG (SWV), Germany’s largest solar-panel maker, plans to initiate anti-dumping proceedings against Chinese competitors in Europe, Chief Executive Officer Frank Asbeck said.

Solarworld seeks to join forces with European peers to take its case to the European Commission’s competition agency after Chinese panels were allegedly dumped in recent months on German markets at below-market costs, Asbeck said yesterday.

A year-end solar-panel installation rush in Germany, which added a record 3 gigawatts in December according to the grid regulator, was sparked in part by “massive” panel inventory from Chinese manufacturers installed in large-scale solar plants at “dumping prices,” Asbeck said in a phone interview.

The country’s solar industry had struggled with slowing demand in the first nine months of 2011, affected by rising competition from manufacturers in China. Solon SE (SOO1), based in Berlin, and Solar Millennium AG of Erlangen, Germany, filed for insolvency last month. Q-Cells is looking for a buyer.

SolarWorld Industries America Inc., the Hillsboro, Oregon- based division of Germany’s largest photovoltaic panel maker, last October asked the U.S. government to slap duties on more than $1 billion of Chinese imports for allegedly undercutting U.S. manufacturers unfairly using state aid.

By Stefan Nicola

Source: Bloomberg.com