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Hemlock Semiconductor, the joint venture of Dow Corning, Shin-Etsu Handotai and Mitsubishi Materials, has said that it has started polysilicon production at its $1.5 billion expansion project in Hemlock, Michigan, USA. Hemlock reiterated that the expansion would add approximately 9,000 metric tons of polysilicon annually, bringing the company's annual capacity to approximately 19,000 metric tons by the end of 2008 and making it the largest single polysilicon facility in the world.

"Delivering polysilicon from our new facility as quickly as possible was essential to meet our customers' expectations," said Hemlock Semiconductor President and CEO Rick Doornbos. "These customers have put a lot of faith in us and the additional quantities of silicon feedstock will enable them to advance solar technology throughout the globe."

Hemlock has additional plans for expansion that will see the Hemlock site reach 36,000 tons by the end of 2011.