Ferroatlantica to Construct World's Largest Silicon Metal Smelter in Sichuan Province

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Madrid-based Ferroatlantica, the world’s largest multinational industrial silicon producer, will invest $150-$300 million to build the world's largest silicon plant in Sichuan Province in southwest China, according to what the Spanish firm's chairman, Juan Miguel Villar Mir, said in a Hispano-Chinese business summit held on June 29, 2007, in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.

Sichuan Province was chosen as the location for the new plant mainly due to the fact that high-quality quartz deposits, which are used as feedstock for silicon smelting, are found on the Tibetan plateau in the province. Once built, the new plant will produce 150,000 tons of silicon per year. A 200-megawatt hydroelectric power plant will also be built to supply electricity for the energy intensive smelting process.

Construction of the new plant will be divided into two phases. Ferroatlantica is currently busy selecting a site for the new plant among candidate cities like Heba City and Mianyang City. Final location of this plant is expected to be made public in September of this year, after approval from the Chinese government, with construction beginning in the middle of next year. The first phase of the plant will go into production in 2010, with the second phase scheduled to come online in 2012.

According to Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, by 2010, the world’s silicon output will exceed 2 million tons a year, and by then, China will become one of the world’s largest silicon producers.

Ferroatlantica, based in Madrid, Spain, is a global leader in ferroalloy and complemented industries. Its products cover silicon, ferrosilicon, ferromanganese, silicomanganese, microsilica and powders. As to industrial silicon, the company’s annual output stands at 1.5 million tons per year.

Sichuan Province has long been a major manufacturing area of silicon metal in China. Currently, the province hosts eleven Spanish enterprises with a total contract investment of $19 million, according to the province's industry and commerce authorities.

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