News on semiconductor

News on suppliers, market trends and technology innovations in polysilicon and wafer production is selected, assessed and written for you by Bernreuter Research.

Monthly polysilicon price average from October 2011 through December 2023

Why the pork cycle has returned to the polysilicon market

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A period of weak demand until 2020 laid the ground for a polysilicon shortage that has triggered excessive capacity expansion in China. Now overcapacity provokes the next shakeout.

Polysilicon EBITDA margins of Daqo, Wacker, OCI and REC Silicon from Q1 2021 through Q1 2022

Mixed trends in polysilicon manufacturers’ first-quarter results

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While Chinese polysilicon manufacturer Daqo was able to stabilize its profit margin in the first quarter, non-Chinese competitors Wacker and OCI saw their earnings decline in the wake of rising costs.

Arabinda Ghosh (left), designated Chairman and CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor, and Ken Collins, site leader of Wacker Chemical Corporation’s polysilicon and pyrogenic silica plants in Charleston, Tennessee

New leadership at U.S. polysilicon makers Wacker and Hemlock

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Ken Collins is new site leader of Wacker’s polysilicon plant in Charleston, Tennessee while Arabinda Ghosh will follow Mark Bassett as CEO of competitor Hemlock Semiconductor at year’s end.

REC Silicon’s silane/polysilicon plant in Butte, Montana

Equity raise: Sale of REC Silicon’s plant in Butte is off the table

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After an equity raise, U.S.-based polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon has abandoned its plan to sell its cash cow, the silane and electronic-grade polysilicon plant in Butte, Montana.

REC Silicon defers sale of Butte plant, keeps Moses Lake closed

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In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S.-based polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon has deferred the sale of its electronic-grade plant in Butte. Its solar-grade plant in Moses Lake remains closed.

OCI’s polysilicon plant in Gunsan, South Korea

OCI stops polysilicon production in Korea after hefty impairment

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The price pressure from low-cost Chinese plants forces OCI, the world’s third-largest polysilicon manufacturer, to stop producing solar-grade polysilicon at its factory in Gunsan, South Korea.

REC Silicon’s silane/polysilicon plant in Butte, Montana

REC Silicon mulls selling its cash cow, the Butte polysilicon plant

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REC Silicon has announced considerations to sell its second plant, located in Butte in the U.S. state of Montana, which produces silane and electronic-grade polysilicon for the semiconductor industry.

Inventory levels before and after shutdown of REC Silicon’s fluidized bed reactor polysilicon plant in Moses Lake, Washington

REC Silicon plans on two-month shutdown of polysilicon plant

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U.S.-based polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon will shut down its fluidized bed reactor polysilicon plant in Moses Lake for two months in March and April if there is no solution in the current trade talks between China and the USA.

OCI’s expansion of polysilicon production capacity

OCI hurt by low prices, enters semiconductor polysilicon business

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Although South Korean chemicals group OCI benefited from high demand for monocrystalline-grade polysilicon in the fourth quarter of 2018, its basic chemicals division was in red territory for the second quarter in a row.

Worker with polysilicon rods at polysilicon plant of Osaka Titanium Technologies in Japan

Osaka Titanium exits polysilicon business for semiconductors

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Osaka Titanium Technologies, a Japanese manufacturer of titanium materials and electronic-grade polysilicon, has announced that it will abandon polysilicon production at the end of December 2018.