From The Bangkok Post, September 11:
Covid delays and expensive shipping will likely hurt more than higher prices for steel and other raw materials
Wind turbine makers have lost some of the wind in their sails this year. Investors can blame Covid delays, rising commodity prices, and a likely lull in orders after a frantic 2020.
Europe's world-leading turbine makers haven't participated in this year's stock-market rally. Shares in Vestas Wind Systems are down 14% and those in Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy are lower by nearly one-third. One reason is the bursting of a mini clean-energy bubble: Most green-related stocks had a strong run last year and have since sold off. But fundamentals are also at play. Both companies lowered their profit outlooks in their most recent quarterly results.
Siemens Gamesa warned in July that higher raw material costs would knock an estimated 229 million euros, equivalent to around $271 million, off its earnings. The company previously built up a multiyear order book to launch its new onshore turbine. Because most suppliers wouldn't contract beyond 15 months, it ended up exposed to raw material inflation on the later projects. It was a "slightly unique situation," says Supriya Subramanian, an analyst at UBS. The company has since added clauses to pass on raw material or logistics cost inflation to customers on new sales contracts.....
....MUCH MORE
