Tongwei and Xinte to upgrade polysilicon production capacities

Polysilicon plant of Inner Mongolia Tongwei in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China
Tongwei is currently expanding the capacity of its polysilicon plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia by 50,000 tons – Image: Tongwei

Tongwei, the world’s largest polysilicon manufacturer, and Xinte Energy, China’s number four, are boosting the capacity of their production facilities through upgrades and debottlenecking by 50,000 metric tons (MT) in total.

According to Tongwei’s 2020 Annual Report, the second phase of its new polysilicon plant in Leshan, Sichuan province, the first phase in Baoshan, Yunnan province, and the second phase in Baotou, Inner Mongolia will reach a capacity of 50,000 MT each. That’s an increase of 10,000 MT over the previously projected size of 40,000 MT for each facility.

All three plants are currently under construction; Leshan II is expected to be completed in late October and Baoshan I in late December – both one month later than initially planned. Baotou II is slated to come on stream in September 2022.

The capacity boost is all the more remarkable as each single phase in Leshan and Baotou should originally have a capacity of only 25,000 MT when the projects were announced in 2017. However, Leshan I has already reached an actual capacity of approx. 40,000 MT and Baotou I a capacity of 36,000 MT.

Along with the old 20,000 MT plant of its subsidiary Sichuan Yongxiang Polysilicon in Leshan, Tongwei currently has a total capacity of 96,000 MT, which the new facilities will raise to 196,000 MT by the end of this year and to 246,000 MT in 2022. If Baoshan II follows in 2023, Tongwei will then reach a capacity of around 300,000 MT.

Competitor Xinte Energy has announced a build-out for its 80,000 MT plant in the outskirts of Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. Through debottlenecking, the company will expand the capacity by 20,000 MT to 100,000 MT within twelve months by April 2022. Xinte is also planning a second 100,000 MT plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, which could come on stream by the end of 2022 or early 2023.

More details on capacity expansions and new polysilicon projects are provided in The Polysilicon Market Outlook 2024.

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