OCI to expand Malaysian polysilicon plant capacity by 10,000 tons

Korean polysilicon producer OCI will revamp the dormant PS-1 plant of its Malaysian subsidiary by the end of 2018, thus expanding its annual production capacity by 10,000 metric tons (MT).

At the presentation of OCI’s first quarter results on April 24, President and CEO WooHyun Lee said the company’s total polysilicon capacity should have a minimum of 80,000 MT by the end of 2018. “Hopefully, we can reach 100,000 [tons] – capacity – by 2020,” Lee added.

OCI is currently debottlenecking its PS-2 facility in Malaysia to expand the capacity from 13,800 MT to 17,000 MT by the third quarter of 2018. Along with the revamped PS-1, the plant is slated to reach a capacity of 27,000 MT.

PS-1 was originally designed by its former Japanese owner Tokuyama Corporation to produce electronic-grade polysilicon for the semiconductor industry at a capacity of 6,200 MT. After the facility did not reach the specifications for electronic grade, however, it was mothballed.

OCI’s Malaysian plant is now focusing on cost-competitive polysilicon for monocrystalline and high-performance multicrystalline solar wafers while the Korean plant is producing high-quality polysilicon for mono and semiconductor wafers.