Bernreuter Research says nine of the world’s 10 largest polysilicon manufacturers are based in China, with Tongwei, GCL Technology, Daqo New Energy and Xinte Energy holding a combined 65 percent share of global production by 2024.
Bernreuter Research said in a new report that nine of the world’s 10 largest polysilicon manufacturers are based in China, with Tongwei, GCL Technology, Daqo New Energy and Xinte Energy holding a combined 65% share of global production by 2024.
According to findings from Bernreuter Research, all but one of the world’s ten largest polysilicon manufacturers are based in China.
Johannes Bernreuter, head of the German research agency and market expert in the field of polysilicon, has published a ranking of the 10 leading polysilicon manufacturers worldwide, ranked by actual production in 2024.
Since 2022, the top four positions in the rankings are occupied by China’s Tongwei, GCL Technology, Daqo New Energy and Xinte Energy. Together they accounted for 65% of the market share last year, and two-thirds of the new polysilicon capacity developed since the beginning of this decade.
Tongwei has increased its total capacity almost tenfold since 2020 and currently stands at approximately 910,000 tons across three plants, far more than second-place GCL Technology, which has a total capacity of 480,000 tons across four plants.
Daqo New Energy’s production capacity is about 350,000 tons, while Xinte Energy’s is about 300,000 tons. “It is no wonder that the top four had also amassed two-thirds of the huge inventories from Chinese polysilicon manufacturers by the end of 2024,” Bernreuter said.
China’s Qinghai Lihao Qingneng, Xinjiang East Hope New Energy and Asia Silicon occupy positions five, six and seven in Bernreuter’s rankings.
The only non-Chinese company in the top ten is the German chemical group Wacker. The company was the world’s largest polysilicon manufacturer from 2016 to 2019 and ranks eighth this year with a production capacity of approximately 80,000 tons. Bernreuter’s analysis shows that the company is still the largest producer of semiconductor-grade polysilicon.
With a planned consolidation of China’s polysilicon industry in the works, Bernreuter expects Wacker to maintain its position in the top ten until at least 2027. However, he added that the forecast assumes that the US solar market, which remains the main destination for solar modules made from non-Chinese polysilicon, “recovers from the Trump administration’s crackdown on renewables.”
China’s Hongyuan Energy Technology Co. and Xinjiang Goens Energy Technology Co. complete the top ten, with production capacities of 60,000 and 65,000 tons. The former is a newcomer to the rankings and is seen by Bernreuter as a “mini version of market leader Tongwei” due to its full integration from polysilicon production to solar panel assembly.
Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor Operations was once a mainstay in the top 10, holding the position of polysilicon market leader from 1994 to 2011. It dropped out of the top 10 in 2023 when the entry barrier rose to 60,000 tonnes and ranks 14th this year with a production capacity of around 35,000 tonnes (MT).
An analysis from Bernreuter Research published in June warned that China’s polysilicon industry risks causing a global shortage by 2028 if manufacturers cut too much production capacity. At the time, Bernreuter reported that China had expanded polysilicon capacity to 3.25 million tons by the end of 2024, accounting for about 93.5% of global production and dropping prices to below $4.50/kg.
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