Jyun Tang, CEO of Wuxi Suntech who assumed the post several months ago, has recently “vanished.” Rumors have that he has responded to government investigations of polysilicon smuggling cases.
China imposed 53.3~57% anti-dumping duties on solar-grade polysilicon imported from overseas such as USA. Since September 2015, China has terminated "The Manual of Processing Trade for Polysilicon," an official loophole for the polysilicon imports. As a result, China's si wafer manufacturers have had a hard time acquiring cheap oversea polysilicon. According to EnergyTrend's data, the average spot price of China's polysilicon has been around US$16/kg. In comparison, some oversea polysilicon average spot prices have only been around US$14/kg. Therefore, the market has spread rumors that some Chinese manufacturers smuggled polysilicon into China by doing switch trade.
Since April 11th, rumors in the China market said that Tang “vanished” due to "responding to investigations." These rumors aroused suspicion whether Wuxi Suntech is suspected of being involved in polysilicon smuggling. In the meantime, rumors have that Trina Solar's employees were taken away to assist investigation, while this gossip was formally denied by Trina Solar's announcement.
Although Suntech Power does not have its own si wafer foundry, Tang's former employer Rietech Solar IS a si wafer foundry company. Moreover, Zheng-rueng Shi, the owner of Rietech Solar, is one of the founders of Wuxi Suntech. Nonetheless, whether Wuxi Suntech is involved in polysilicon smuggling has remained a rumor. Currently, neither evidences nor tangible details are available.