Hoku announces bankruptcy; the future for small polysilicon factories seems gloomy
The US PV raw material supplier, Hoku, announced its bankruptcy on July 4th. The bankruptcy also affected its subsidiary company, Hoku Materials, which produced polysilicon. According to the most recent global PV industry database collected by global market intelligence organization TrendForce’s research division EnergyTrend, it showed the limited growth for the market demand and the continuously decreasing polysilicon price. The overall condition for polysilicon industry in the future can still be bumpy and the future for small polysilicon factories remains gloomy.
EnergyTrend indicated that the global polysilicon capacity was around 390 thousand tons by 2Q13, with the capacity from top five manufacturers accounting for 57.6% and that from top ten manufacturers accounting for 71.6%. Besides, based on EnergyTrend’s data, the amount of shipment in the first half year of 2013 turned out to be about 80 thousand tons with the market share from top five manufacturers representing more than 70% and that from top ten manufacturers representing more than 80%. It clearly showed that global polysilicon manufacturers ranked after tenth place will face tough challenges in terms of either capacity or output.