Polysilicon Producers Continue Capacity-Expansion Project Development in U.S. with $3 Billion Tennessee Hotspot

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--One of the Metals & Minerals Industry sectors seemingly not as affected by the economic downturn as others is the polysilicon (polycrystalline silicon) manufacturing industry. Polysilicon, a raw material used in solar panel and computer chip manufacturing, has been in high demand, mainly because of the renewable energy push for solar energy. Manufacturers like REC ASA Group (Sandvika, Netherlands), MEMC Electric Materials Incorporated (NYSE:WFR) (St. Peters, Missouri), Mitsubishi (Theodore, Alabama) and Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation (Hemlock, Michigan), along with newcomers Hoku Scientific Incorporated (Kapolei, Hawaii) and AE Polysilicon Corporation (Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania), have been in expansion mode in the U.S. in recent years. Two years ago, polysilicon manufacturers were developing close to $3 billion in new plant construction. For details, see May 10, 2007, news article - U.S. Polysilicon Manufacturers Developing Close to $3 Billion in New Plant Construction. At that time, these projects would have added an estimated 32,000 metric tons of capacity by 2010.

Today, the expansion trend continues with two new grassroot projects in Tennessee. Hemlock Semiconductor, majority owned by Dow Corning Corporation, began site work this week on a $2 billion grassroot polysilicon manufacturing plant in Clarksville, Tennessee. This plant will produce 10,000 tons per year of polysilicon, initially, with plans to expand to 21,000 tons per year. The Clarksville site was selected after a global site study initiated last year.

Early this year, Wacker-Chemie GmbH (XETRA:WCH.DE) (Munich, Germany), hoping to capitalize on the growth market for polysilicon in North America, along with the lure of cheap electricity and the Tennessee government's tax incentives in excess of $75 million, announced plans to build a $1 billion polysilicon plant on 550 acres in Charleston, Tennessee. It is estimated that this project will most likely add 10,000 tons per year of polysilicon capacity, bringing the total polysilicon manufacturing capacity scheduled to come online in the five-year period between 2007 and 2013 in the U.S. to about 61,000 metric tons per year.

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