SunEdison has said the polysilicon ingot production operations for its semiconductor customers would be consolidated with the full closure of its facilities in Merano, Italy, and the transfer of 200mm diameter ingot production from St. Peters, Missouri to other overseas facilities.
SolarWorld said in a statement that it had reached an agreement with a long-term “raw material” supplier to restructure supply contracts that would result in impairment charges in the “double-digit million Euro amount.”
SunEdison and the Government of Saudi Arabia are undertaking a feasibility study to establish a fully integrated PV manufacturing complex, including polysilicon production through to PV module assembly at an estimated cost of US$6.4 billion.
Daqo New Energy has completed the de-bottlenecking project at its polysilicon plant in Xinjiang, China, which has started ramping to its expected nameplate capacity of 6,150MT.
The decision to penalise US polysilicon producers with heavy import duties by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) as part of the ongoing trade war has led to both Wacker and OCI grabbing further polysilicon market share in the country.
Major polysilicon producer, Wacker Chemie, said it would benefit from a one-time windfall of around €115 million in the first quarter of 2014 due to the restructuring of a supply contract with an undisclosed solar PV customer.
US-based PV module encapsulant supplier, STR Holdings, is to renovate its leased facility in Suzhou and seek further outsourced manufacturing arrangements with third parties.
UPDATE: An explosion at Mitsubishi Materials Yokkaichi polysilicon plant has resulted in the death of five workers with a further 12 injured, according to reports.
