The facility will produce solar wafers for the US market.
South Korean polysilicon manufacturer OCI Holdings has started production operations at its wafer plant in Vietnam.
“We can confirm that we have started wafer production operations in Vietnam,” a company spokesperson said pv magazine in response to Vietnamese media reports. “That said, we are currently in the very early ramp-up phase following the recent closing of the transaction. While production has begun, we are not yet in the shipping or delivery phase. Activities are being stabilized and we expect to gradually ramp up to full production in the short term.”
The solar wafer production facility will produce non-prohibited foreign entity (PFE) wafers early next year. The non-PFE status allows the solar wafers to bypass U.S. import restrictions associated with some foreign supply chains.
OCI acquired a majority stake in the wafer factory in October.
The company, through its wholly owned subsidiary OCI TerraSus, established special purpose vehicle OCI ONE, which acquired a 65% stake in a 2.7 GW wafer plant currently under construction by Elite Solar Power Wafer Co. Ltd.
The total investment in the plant amounts to $120 million, with OCI ONE’s stake valued at approximately $78 million. According to a statement published by OCI Holdings, the plant’s capacity could increase to 5.4 GW within six months if a further $40 million is invested.
The plant will be fully supplied with polysilicon from OCI TerraSus, which, according to OCI’s statement, will achieve full vertical integration aimed at increasing both competitiveness and profitability.
In August, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy urged the US to exempt its companies from polysilicon tariffs. Warning restrictions could disrupt $2.8 billion in U.S. solar investment.
OCI and Japanese chemical company Tokuyama Corporation recently started construction of a 10,000-ton polysilicon plant at the Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia.
OCIM Sdn Bhd (OCIMSB), the Malaysian unit of OCI, currently operates a 35,000 tonne polysilicon plant in the Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, Malaysia, which it acquired from Tokuyama in 2016.
With this plant, the group’s total annual polysilicon production – including the 3,000-ton plant in Gunsan, South Korea – currently stands at 38,000 tons.
In August 2024, Tokuyama signed an agreement with Thanh Binh Phu My JSC to build a $30 million polysilicon factory at the Phu My 3 Industrial Park in Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
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