Top Four Manufacturers of Polysilicon in China; Tongwei Leads the Race

As per a Bernreuter Research, all top four manufacturers of solar grade polysilicon are now located in China; they produced more than 100,000 MT each in 2022.  

Chinese polysilicon manufacturer Tongwei says it has extended its position as the world market leader in the polysilicon industry. In 2022, the firm produced 1.6 times as much polysilicon for solar cells as the second largest manufacturer, GCL Technology, and twice as much as the third biggest, Daqo New Energy, reports Bernreuter Research. 

“How quickly Tongwei increases its process efficiency and upgrades existing  equipment is remarkable,” comments Johannes Bernreuter, Head of Bernreuter Research. In view of an output of almost 160,000 metric tons (MT) in the second  half of 2022 alone, the analyst estimates that Tongwei reached an effective  production capacity of approx. 345,000 MT by the end of 2022, far above the  260,000 MT officially stated by the firm.  

While the top three positions in the ranking have remained unchanged  compared to the previous year, Xinte Energy has relegated Germany-based Wacker Chemie from the fourth to the fifth place. 

Another China-based manufacturer was also among the winners last year:  Thanks to a smooth ramp-up from a capacity of 22,000 MT to 92,000 MT, Asia Silicon climbed from the eighth to the sixth rank. Like Wacker, the company benefitted from the weak performance of East Hope, which had to shut down  part of its factory in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang for several  months after a fire broke out in June. Consequently, East Hope slipped from the  sixth to the seventh place.  

China's Claim in Solar-Grade Polysilicon

China achieved a share of 89% in the global output of solar-grade polysilicon in 2022, and expansion continues unabated. The six largest Chinese manufacturers alone have additional capacities of roughly 1.5 million MT in the pipeline for 2023 and 2024. On top of that, more than a dozen new entrants are  building or ramping up new polysilicon plants in China. There are “long-term” plans for a total production capacity of  nearly 7 million MT, which would be equivalent to an annual solar module  capacity of approx. 3,500 gigawatts.  

“Even though the potential for growth of global photovoltaic installations is  enormous, it will not absorb such huge polysilicon volumes,” says Bernreuter.  “Oversupply will be the inevitable consequence. It looks like Chinese investors  once again have to learn this the hard way given the fact that they are still  announcing new polysilicon projects in 2023.”