Tag Archives: silicon

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Solar company Hoku Corporation stock value less than 20 cents! Do Not Trade warning issued!

On 8 June 2012, the value of Hoku Corporation stock settled at 15 cents per share, after hitting 20 cents that morning.  Some stock trading media outlets issued a Do Not Trade warning for Hoku (NASDAQ: HOKU).

Hoku Corp owns failed Hoku Materials in Pocatello, Idaho.  Hoku Corp is a subsidiary of Tianwei New Energy Holdings, which is an affiliate of China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC).

Ever since the end of May, Hoku stock has been struggling to get above 20 cents. Wikinvest says Hoku’s 52 week average is only 7 cents per share!  At last check, 13 June 2012, Hoku Corp was trading between 16 and 17 cents per share.

IDAHO’S HOKU MATERIALS ABOUT TO BE FINISHED OFF BY LAWSUITS, LAYS OFF 100 MORE EMPLOYEES IN BANNOCK COUNTY!

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Hoku Materials about to be finished off by lawsuits from unpaid contractors! Lays off 100 more employees in Bannock County!

“The proceeds of the loan are insufficient to pay down current liabilities, resume construction or start commercial operations. The loan proceeds will be used to fund working capital requirements while we plan for a restructuring of our liabilities, and the liabilities of our subsidiary Hoku Materials Inc.”– Scott Paul, CEO of Hoku Corporation

At the end of May, 2012, the CEO of Hoku Corporation basically said that Hoku Materials, in Pocatello, Idaho, has ceased operations, even before it began operations!

I speculated that the 17 May decision to jack up U.S. tariffs on Chinese made solar products would be the final nail in the coffin for Hoku Materials, and it looks like I was right.

This is because Hoku turned to Chinese companies to bail them out of their financial woes.  They became a subsidiary of Tianwei New Energy Holdings, which is an affiliate of China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC).  All their contracts are with Chinese solar product companies hoping to increase their business in the United States.

On top of that, JH Kelly, primary contractor working on the Hoku Materials project, is finally fed up with not being paid and has sued Hoku.

At the beginning of 2012 Hoku Materials laid off 20 employees (according to an Idaho State Journal report, that left around 150 employees).

In April, remaining construction work was stopped all together (due to the lawsuits).

At the end of May 2012, a local Pocatello TV station started getting phone calls from unnamed sources within the Hoku Materials factory.  The callers were reporting massive layoffs.

Hoku Materials admitted to the local TV station that they laid off another 100 employees, because of massive debts, the increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar products, and civil suits by JH Kelly and other contractors!  Hoku is now going through “restructuring”, which usually includes selling off assets to pay debts.

I’ve been warning since 2010 of the impending doom of Hoku Materials.  The sad thing is that officials with the city of Pocatello, as well as Bannock County officials, bent over backwards to get Hoku to build their polysilicon plant in Pocatello (that included essentially giving the land to Hoku, by allowing a tax credit equal to the value of the land). This is because truly good paying jobs have become hard to find locally (no thanks to previous city and county leaders chasing off major employers for personal/religious reasons, such as refusing to allow Union Pacific to make Pocatello their Pacific Northwest Depot!).

Now there’s an unfinished polysilicon factory, taking up space equal to 50 football fields!  To top that, the factory butts up to a residential area, a once dead end residential street is now the entry road to the defunct factory!

NEW Obama imposed U.S. TARIFFS ON CHINESE SOLAR PANELS COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR IDAHO’S HOKU MATERIALS

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Good and Bad news for Idaho’s Hoku Materials

On March 22, 2012, Hoku Solar (a subsidiary of Hoku Corporation, in turn majority owned by China’s Tianwei New Energy) was selected to build a 7.2 megawatt solar farm in Kaua’i, Hawaii.

In December 2011, Hoku Solar actually delivered a 1.18 megawatt solar energy facility, the largest solar power plant in O’ahu, Hawaii.

After the announcement of the 7.2 megawatt solar farm contract, Hoku Corp stock went up 11%.

Now the bad news, another subsidiary of Hoku Corporation, Hoku Materials, is getting hit again by the construction contractor in charge of completing the southeastern Idaho polysilicon factory.

There are reports that once again Hoku has not fully paid its contractor JH Kelly.  This has happened before, and is part of the main cause for many construction delays in the past.  JH Kelly officials say they are taking “action” against Hoku.

Hoku Materials has also played the same game with electricity supplier Idaho Power.  Their latest battle was settled by an Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) decision.

According to an 15 March 2012 IPUC statement, Hoku got a new electricity contract which: “… reduces Hoku’s monthly minimum payment to about $800,000 for up to 18 months through June 2013.  To protect customers and the company from the lost revenue from the lower minimum payment, Hoku will reimburse the difference between the current and the revised minimum charge in payments spread through November 2014, plus 6 percent interest.  Hoku will also make an initial payment of $3.8 million, with $2 million of that coming from a $4 million deposit already provided by Hoku. The remaining $1.8 million will be paid over the next 18 months at $100,000 per month.  Hoku must give Idaho Power 30 days’ notice when it plans to exceed 10 MW and six-months’ notice when it plans to exceed 20 MW.”  

HOKU MATERIALS’ CUSTOMERS WHO ‘PREPAID’ ARE GETTING IMPATIENT!

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

Idaho’s Hoku Materials better get its rear in gear, Customers who have prepaid are getting impatient could go elsewhere

“For Hoku and its majority shareholder Tianwei New Energy Holdings, things cannot be worse.”-Rober Dydo, CEO of Solar PV Investor

March 18, 2012, customers who have pre-paid for Hoku’s polysilicon are getting restless.  One buyer, Jinko Solar, has already reduced their original purchase contract of ten years down to eight.  And there’s rumors they want to reduce it even more.

Hoku also owes two other buyers, Hanwha Solar One and Solargiga.  In total the three customers already paid Hoku $140 million!

To make matters worse, Jinko Solar is the only Chinese customer that is not in trouble financially.  This means that Hanwha Solar One, and Solargiga, are more likely to cancel their contracts all together.

To top everything, Hoku Materials, in Pocatello, Idaho, is still not ready for production and the delays are only costing more money: “The current estimate for the cost of facility is now $600 million to complete Phase I of 2,500 metric ton (MT) of capacity. Phase II with the complete capacity of 4,000 MT will cost another $100 million to complete. All told the $700 million dollar price tag is 70.7% more than its previous estimate…“-Michael Lofing, CPA and market analyst

IDAHO’S HOKU MATERIALS LOSES $28 MILLION, BLAMES IDAHO POWER. 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence: 20 cases of cancer linked to breast implants, involving more countries, former company president gone missing now wanted by police, insurance companies suing

“We are faced with a health crisis linked to a scam. The whole profession is aware of it.”-Laurent Lantieri, plastic surgeon

The case of Poly Implant Prosthesis (PIP) is spreading to other countries, and several cancer cases could now be linked, and insurance companies are now suing. 

More than 300,000 women, in 65 countries including France, Italy, Spain, U.K., Venezuela, Brazil, Germany and Ukraine could be affected by the PIP silicon breasts.  At least 1000 women in France had their implants rupture.

PIP filed for bankruptcy after they were sued in British court, and lost.  Then it was revealed they were using industrial silicon, instead of medical grade silicon, in their breast implants.  But now important company documents, along with the company’s founder, Jean-Claude Mas, have gone missing and Interpol is looking for them.

In 2010, at least one case of a woman who died from cancer, was being investigated as murder because of her PIP implants.  On December 30, 2011, the French government revealed that at least 20 cases of cancer can be directly linked to PIP: “…there were three cases of lymphoma, 15 cases of breast adenocarcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer, one case of adenocarcinoma of the lung, and one case of acute myeloid leukemia.”-French Health Products Safety Agency

The government of Italy has ordered doctors and hospitals to report women who have PIP made implants.  Brazil and the United Kingdom are telling women with PIP implants to get checked up right away.  Brazil has banned the use of PIP products. France’s National Health Insurance Fund is now suing.  Venezuela’s government says it will pay for removing PIP implants.  In 2000, the U.S. FDA banned PIP products from the being used in the United States.

In a perverted twist, Jean-Claude Mas’s son and daughter have filed papers to create a new silicon implant company, and they list their father as an official consultant.  I wonder if Interpol knows.  The new company is scheduled to open in June 2012.