An Opportunity for Korean Companies
The Joe Biden administration is planning to ban the import of polysilicon from Uighur. According to the administration, this is because the solar panel material produced there is based on human rights violation such as forced labor.
At present, the region in China accounts for 45 percent of the global polysilicon production volume. As such, the import ban is likely to change the global solar power industry drastically. South Korean companies such as OCI and Hanwha Solutions, which are struggling due to cheap products from China, are expected to be able to get an opportunity.
The ratio of Chinese products in the industry is likely to drop from 80 percent once the ban is implemented. According to market research firms, China’s annual polysilicon production volume soared from 54,750 tons to 678,500 tons from 2010 to 2020. This was possible based on forced labor in the region that led to extremely lower prices. At present, however, the European Union and the United Kingdom as well as the United States are putting a brake on this.
OCI, the largest polysilicon supplier in South Korea, is expected to benefit the most from the measure. “The global top 10 polysilicon suppliers are divided into seven Chinese companies, OCI, Wacker Chemie and Hemlock,” said an industry source, adding, “OCI is superior to the U.S. and German companies in terms of price competitiveness and it is likely to become the biggest alternative.”
Hanwha Solutions is watching the situation very closely, too. This company announced in December last year that it would stop producing polysilicon this year. It entered the industry seven years ago by building a plant with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons in Yeosu, South Korea. It has never shown any profit in the industry since then.