LED Lighting Financial Subsidy Bidding Exposes "Chaotic Pricing" Again

　　Recently, the "2012 Semiconductor Lighting Products Financial Subsidy Promotion Project" organized by the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology held a public bidding at the Beijing Meiquan Palace Hotel, with 110 companies from across the country participating in the bidding.

　　Compared to the 94 companies that participated in the bidding in August 2010, the number of participating companies this time has not increased significantly. However, the "chaotic pricing" situation that occurred in the previous bidding reappeared this year.

　　Behind the Low Prices

　　Based on the prices of products participating in this bidding, the price differences among products of the same type and specifications are extremely large, with LED street lights showing particularly notable price gaps. For example, LED street light products with a specification of 9000lm can reach a high price of 9,200 yuan, while the low price is only 920 yuan; LED street light products with a specification of 14000lm have a high price of up to 11,000 yuan, while the low price is only 1,062 yuan.

　　Chen Bin, General Manager of Guangdong Zhonglong Transportation, told reporters that the current market price of LED street lights is 20 yuan/W, with price fluctuations not exceeding 20%. The 9000lm street light products have a power range of 80-100 watts, with market prices around 1,800 yuan.

　　"Even at cost price, it cannot be that low," Peng Guangyuan, Marketing Director of Jiangsu Sft, told a GG-LED reporter. The cost of 9000lm LED street lights cannot be lower than 1,000 yuan.

　　Calculated this way, wouldn't companies be bidding at a loss?

　　In response, however, several LED street light company executives disagreed. One of them told reporters: "No company would do business at a loss. They dare to bid low prices because their aim is to obtain subsidies."

　　“很多企业的想法是先挤进去再说业内人士表示。

　　据悉，本次招标的补贴资金将采取间接补贴方式，由财政补贴给中标企业，再由中标企业按中标协议供货价格减去财政补贴资金后的价格销售给终端用户。

　　“因为LED路灯项目是一项比较复杂的工程，项目的成本构成不仅仅是路灯产品。这其中还包括诸如施工成本和后续的维修费用等等，LED路灯的产品价格只是其中一部分。达进东方董事长助理皮春娇告诉记者。

　　“中标之后，等到具体项目采购时，价格还可以协商。产品中标的价格并不是项目的最终价格。一位参与此次LED路灯产品投标的企业负责人对记者表示，“挤进去的企业无疑拥有了与地方政府协调项目价格的话语权。

　　同时，尽管政府选择中标企业会考察企业的综合实力，低价并不是唯一的中标砝码。但是，作为公开性的LED照明财政补贴招标，投标企业所报的低价格，是否会冲击LED路灯市场?对此,陈斌对记者表示：“影响肯定会有的，比如其他项目方看到此次投标的路灯价格，他可能也会以同样的价格去要求竞标方。

　　However, Peng Guangyuan expressed a different opinion, "LED street light projects involve very complex relationships, with intricate connections, and have their own pricing methods. The market will continue as it should, without being affected.

　　When will the subsidies be in place

　　Regarding the government subsidies that everyone is most concerned about, several LED street light companies stated that companies participating in this bidding still need great patience to receive government subsidies.

　　At the end of 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Transport organized a semiconductor lighting product application demonstration project, organized bids for shortlisted enterprises, and through unified bidding identified 28 shortlisted enterprises for three categories of products, along with product specifications and agreed supply prices; they also selected a batch of semiconductor lighting product application demonstration projects, including 20 semiconductor indoor lighting application projects, 15 semiconductor street light application projects, and 15 semiconductor tunnel light application projects.

　　Most industry insiders revealed to reporters that the 2010 three-ministry semiconductor lighting product application demonstration project, due to insufficiently mature implementation methods, resulted in certain indoor lighting application projects and most LED tunnel light application projects not being carried out as scheduled.

　　Jiangsu SFT was one of the 28 winning companies in 2010, but Peng Guangyuan stated: "Some of the projects we completed last year have not yet received subsidy payments. The subsidy procedure is very cumbersome, and we are still going through the process."

　　"This is an open bidding activity, and the government will certainly not delay the subsidies, but obtaining the subsidies still requires some patience. Peng Chunjiao stated that Dajin Dongfang also participated in this bid, but she is not at all worried about not receiving the subsidy payments.

　　In response, industry insiders expressed hope that the government can improve implementation plans and procedures this time, and effectively deliver substantial subsidies to enterprises.