Solar supplier receives record order

Meyer Burger Record Order signals a rebound in solar equipment demand, worth CHF 250M+, featuring wire saws, cropping saws, and wafer inspection systems for Asia, amid German-driven PV growth and potential incentive cuts.

Swiss solar industry supplier Meyer Burger received a record order from Asia in a sign that customers are gaining confidence in a global economic recovery, the company said.

Meyer Burger won additional orders for wire saws, cropping saws and wafer inspection systems worth more than 250 million Swiss francs million with a customer in Asia, the group said, noting that solar equipment makers often shine during industry shakeouts, adding that deliveries were expected throughout 2010 and 2011.

Company spokesman Werner Buchholz said the order was the largest the group has ever received and compared with new orders of 99 million francs in the first half of 2009 and total sales of 455.4 million francs in 2008.

"There is a trend showing that the confidence in the world economy is back," Buchholz said, noting that companies like SolarWorld have cashed in on nuclear fears recently. "Now customers are launching projects they have been thinking about but held back due to the uncertainty from the crisis."

The group with a total market cap of around $1.1 billion said it received an 20 million-franc order from China.

Meyer Burger will be publishing its 2009 results soon, even as SMA Solar has defied broader market gloom recently.

The group's shares have lost over 4 percent so far this year, while German solar firms have been hit by a price war recently, though the share price more than doubled last year.

Global solar demand has surged on brisk buying from Germany, helping the industry to recover from a slump in 2009, but some analysts fear the market will drop once incentives in Germany, where solar subsidy cuts are muddying the outlook, are pared back.

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