Top Ten Polysilicon Makers Nearly All Chinese

Würzburg (Germany), November 25, 2025 – Nine of the world’s top ten polysilicon manufacturers are based in China today. “The Chinese polysilicon industry reached a share of 93.5% in the global output of 2024. This dominance is also reflected in the ranking of the world’s largest manufacturers,” says Johannes Bernreuter, author of the Polysilicon Market Outlook 2029 and head of Bernreuter Research. The polysilicon market expert has published its latest ranking of the top ten producers on its website today.

Top four manufacturers responsible for two thirds of oversupply

Since 2022, the top four positions in the ranking have been occupied by the Chinese quartet of Tongwei, GCL Technology, Daqo New Energy and Xinte Energy, with no challenger in sight.

The top four manufacturers not only achieved a combined market share of 65% in 2024. They are also responsible for the lion’s share of overcapacity in China: Two thirds of the new capacity between 2020 and 2024 was built by Tongwei, GCL, Daqo and Xinte. “Therefore, it is no wonder that the top four also accumulated two thirds of the huge inventories at Chinese polysilicon manufacturers by the end of 2024,” says analyst Bernreuter.

Chances and challenges for Germany-based Wacker

Wacker is the only remaining non-Chinese representative among the top ten. The Germany-based chemicals group, which was the world’s largest polysilicon manufacturer from 2016 through 2019, fell from the fifth place in 2022 back to eighth in 2024.

In view of the planned consolidation of the Chinese polysilicon industry through an acquisition fund, Bernreuter Research sees a good chance that Wacker will remain in the top ten ranking at least through 2027. However, this prediction comes with a caveat: “It assumes that the PV market in the USA, the main destination of solar modules made of non-Chinese polysilicon, recovers from the crackdown of the Trump administration on renewables,” says Bernreuter.

After the regulation of the European Union on forced labor comes into effect in December 2027, Wacker could benefit from increased European demand for solar modules made of non-Chinese polysilicon.

Successful Chinese newcomers: Lihao and Hongyuan

Of the formerly three non-Chinese manufacturers in the top ten, Hemlock Semiconductor (USA) and OCI (South Korea/Malaysia) dropped out of the ranking in 2023 when the threshold for the tenth largest producer rose to an annual output of 60,000 metric tons. In 2024 Hemlock landed on the 14^th place, OCI on the 16^th.

Both manufacturers have been surpassed by new Chinese entrants, Qinghai Lihao and Hongyuan Energy. Lihao already entered the ranking in the second year of its operation in 2023; due to a rapid expansion, it secured the fifth place in 2024. Hongyuan came in ninth in 2024. With its complete integration from polysilicon production through to solar module assembly, the company is a mini version of market leader Tongwei.

In-depth report on polysilicon, solar and semiconductor markets

More details on the top ten manufacturers, such as production volumes and market shares, are contained in The Polysilicon Market Outlook 2029. The 102-page report also provides sophisticated scenarios of supply and demand in and outside China, detailed forecasts of polysilicon prices through 2029, the latest cash cost data on the dominant Siemens process and fluidized-bed reactor technology, as well as many other market trends. For more information on the report, please go  to The Polysilicon Market Outlook 2029.

About Bernreuter Research

Bernreuter Research was founded in 2008 by Johannes Bernreuter, one of the most reputable photovoltaic journalists in Germany, to publish global polysilicon market reports. As early as 2001, Bernreuter authored his first analysis of an upcoming polysilicon bottleneck and new production processes. Since publishing its first report in 2010, Bernreuter Research has gained a reputation for providing the most comprehensive and accurate polysilicon reports on the market.