Polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon has decided to shut down its polysilicon production capacity at its Butte facility in Montana, US.
The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, REC Advanced Silicon Materials LLC, will shut down the polysilicon production capacity due to increased electricity costs in the region both in the short and mid-term. Production will continue for six to nine months, in order to fulfil ongoing orders to customers.
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Even though the company will be shutting down the Butte polysilicon production, it will still be producing polysilicon at its Moses Lake facility in the northwestern state of Washington, which started its first production during the fourth quarter of 2023. For that facility, REC Silicon secured a 10-year fluidised bed reactor (FBR) polysilicon supply agreement with South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Solutions last year, which is estimated at US$3 billion.
The first deliveries from the Moses Lake facility are expected in Q1 2024, with a ramp up to 50% during Q2 2024 and reaching full capacity by year’s end.
In that last quarter of the year, the company sold 182MT of polysilicon capacity, of which 145MT from semiconductor grade polysilicon. Polysilicon sales for 2023 reached 749MT, nearly half of sales volume from the same period a year prior when it sold 1,502MT.
“We did everything in our power to return profitability to the polysilicon business in Butte, however, forecasts for sustained high electricity costs that are outside of our control necessitated this decision. After the transition has been fully executed, we expect an accretive impact to our earnings,” said Kurt Levens, CEO.
Updated on 09 February 2024: the headline and article have been modified to highlight that only the polysilicon capacity will be stopped in Montana.