LDK Solar Has Credit Rating Downgraded on Losses, Export Outlook

LDK Solar Co.’s credit rating was cut one level to A by Shanghai Brilliance Credit Rating & Investors Service Co., its second downgrade since June, on the solar-wafer maker’s operating losses and souring export outlook.

Shanghai Brilliance lowered the credit grade of Jiangxi LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co., the manufacturer’s principal operating subsidiary, to its sixth-highest level and kept the rating on negative outlook after production and sales fell in 2012, the risk assessor said in a statement on Chinabond, the nation’s bond clearinghouse. Chinese solar makers may struggle to export their products due to a U.S. tariff on Chinese solar cells announced May 17 and the threat of further restrictions in Europe, according to the statement.