WACKER expects polysilicon production to top 22,000 metric tons by the end of 2010

WACKER
AG has said that its polysilicon capacity is expected to rise from
10,000 to over 22,000 metric tons by the end of 2010. Its Burghausen
plant which has been undergoing an expansion was completed 3 months in
advance of schedule and reached a capacity of 3,500 metric tons at the
end of 2007. Expansion Stage 6 was said to be running at full capacity
since Q4 2007, according to CEO Peter-Alexander Wacker at an annual
investor conference held in Munich this week.

Wacker noted that Expansion Stages 7 and 8 are fully on schedule at an estimated investment of €500 million to reach a capacity of 22,000 metric tons in 2010. A new granular silicon production facility is also under construction, the company said.

“We expect the polysilicon business to remain attractive over the next few years. In any case, there are currently no signs of an impending polysilicon oversupply,” said CEO Peter-Alexander Wacker. “80 percent of our production quantities have already been sold for the next few years. Some of our supply contracts span until the year 2018.”