Has REC Silicon been taken hostage by its shareholder Hanwha?

U.S.-based manufacturer REC Silicon will shut down the production of granular polysilicon at its plant in Moses Lake, Washington after a massive investment in equipment upgrades. The decision raises some questions.

After investing umpteen millions in the upgrade of fluidized bed reactors and post-treatment systems at its 16,000-ton plant for granular polysilicon in Moses Lake, Washington, REC Silicon suddenly announced on December 30 that it would cease its polysilicon production.

The decision comes after a first qualification test for REC Silicon’s granular material in China failed in December. The company’s argument, however, that its only polysilicon customer Qcells USA Corp., a subsidiary of the South Korean Hanwha Group, “is not able to wait any longer for delivery of product” is strange as the start-up of ingot and wafer production at Qcells has been delayed to mid-2025.

And there are more crudities, in particular inconsistencies among REC Silicon’s recent statements on polysilicon purity and the qualification test. Retail shareholders sense a dirty game by Hanwha, which owns a 33% stake in REC Silicon, to take control of the company at their expense – as articulated by Armando Tyria on LinkedIn.

Are we just watching an economic whodunit?