(Yicai) Oct. 26 -- Arctech Solar Holding, a Chinese manufacturer of solar panel mounts, is planning to spend as much as CNY430 million (USD58.8 million) building a factory in Brazil to make solar tracking and racking systems so as to better meet surging demand in the region.

The plant will produce 3 gigawatts of solar trackers a year, Kunshan-based Arctech said yesterday. Output will be expanded depending on demand in South America and according to the firm’s capacity expansion strategy. Other details, such as the construction timetable, were not given.

Brazil added 9.9 GW of installed solar capacity last year, ranking fifth globally, Arctech said, citing data from the International Energy Agency. Building a new production base in the country will allow the firm to expand its market and supporting services in Brazil and across Latin America.

Arctech has four production bases in East China and India which shipped 10.5 GW of solar brackets last year. The company had an annual capacity of 12.2 GW as of the end of June, it said in a separate announcement yesterday.

Arctech’s shares [SHA: 688408] fell 0.5 percent to close at CNY70.78 (USD9.68) apiece today. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5 percent.

Editor: Kim Taylor