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(Bloomberg) — China reaped record gains from rising exports of power transformers last year, as the rapid buildout of data centers and accelerating electrification squeeze supplies and raise prices worldwide.
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The country shipped a record 64.6 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) worth of transformers last year, nearly 36% higher than a year earlier, according to customs data released on Sunday. The equipment converts power from high to low voltage for use in households or factories.
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The jump in export value comes as the world experiences a shortage of the equipment critical to grid infrastructure. The US, which is the world’s biggest buyer of transformers, faces a supply gap of about 30% that may persist into the 2030s, energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie Ltd. estimates.
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Chinese manufacturers are benefiting from rising overseas orders to modernize aging grids as well as domestic investment in renewables-heavy supergrids.
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Sieyuan Electric Co. posted a 54% surge in last year’s profit on Thursday, and its stocks have rallied 168% from the beginning of the year. Peer firm TBEA Co., one of the world’s biggest transformer makers, saw foreign orders jump 66% in the first half of 2025 from the same period a year earlier. It also secured a 16.4 billion yuan contract from Saudi Arabia in August.
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State-owned China XD Electric Co., a leading contractor for the country’s ultra-high-voltage grid construction, just unveiled the world’s largest flexible UHV DC transformer, an advanced technology designed to boost long-distance transmission of renewable power from remote deserts.
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Global grid investment exceeded $480 billion for the first time in 2025, according to BloombergNEF, with strong momentum likely to sustain for the next couple of years. China, whose total power consumption is double that of the US, aims to ramp up grid spending, according to a budget plan announced by its biggest operator last week.
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The boom in AI computing and electrification, however, has driven up prices and doubled lead times for power transformers since 2021, BloombergNEF analyst Eva Gonzalez Isla said in a note.
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The average price of a single transformer shipped out of China last year rose to 205,000 yuan, up about a third from a year earlier, the customs data showed. In the US, where manufacturing capacity remains strained, prices are about 79% above pre-2021 levels, with similar pressures seen across Europe and Australia, according to BloombergNEF.
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