OCIM, a wholly owned subsidiary of OCI Holdings in Malaysia, has penetrated the U.S. market by signing a contract worth US$1 billion with an American company. OCIM’s strategic product is non-Chinese polysilicon.
OCI Holdings announced on Dec. 19 that it had signed a contract for the supply of polysilicon for solar power with the wafer company Cubic in Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S., on Dec. 18 (local time). The contract is valued at US$1 billion. OCIM will supply polysilicon to Cubic from the end of 2025 to the first half of 2033.
This contract signifies OCIM’s participation in the U.S. solar value chain with an American company. The solar value chain includes a polysilicon wafer cell module. Cubic plans to produce wafers in the U.S. starting from 2025 using polysilicon supplied by OCIM. These wafers will be supplied to cell companies in the U.S.
OCIM expects to expand its sales due to the “non-China premium.” The raw material for the polysilicon OCIM manufactures, metallurgical silicon, is entirely non-Chinese. OCIM’s polysilicon complies with the U.S. “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).” Recently, a draft of forced labor sanctions regulations similar to UFLPA was approved in the European Parliament.
The U.S. government’s policy to encourage domestic solar production also presents an opportunity for OCIM. According to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, domestic solar wafer manufacturing companies receive a tax benefit of US$12 per square meter, cells at 4 cents per watt, and modules at 7 cents per watt.
Cubic is advancing the construction of a wafer production plant in Texas and plans to expand its business scope to include cells and modules in the future. The main shareholder of Cubic is Breakthrough Energy operated by the Bill Gates Foundation.
OCIM currently produces 35,000 tons of solar polysilicon annually at the Samalaju Industrial Park in Sarawak, Northern Borneo Island, Malaysia. The energy source for polysilicon manufacturing is hydropower. This meets the “RE100” criteria, meaning 100% of the power used is sourced from renewable energy. OCIM plans to expand its solar polysilicon plant capacity to 65,000 tons by 2027.