The government of Urumqi and Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd. have entered into a strategic cooperation framework agreement for setting up new production capacity for c-Si PV products and other silicon-based materials. Urumqi is a major city in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Construction will begin next March for the production facilities that are covered under the agreement. These facilities will be located in the nearby Ganquanbao Economic and Technological Development Zone. All of the facilities are scheduled to be fully completed and put into operation in 2024. The agreement was signed in early December and first reported by other renewable energy news websites and Chinese news platforms. Hoshine will be investing a total of RMB 35.5 billion into this major capacity expansion project.
According to the reporting by other media outlets, the first phase of the capacity expansion project will involve setting up production facilities with a total area of around 3,550 mu. These facilities will be purposed for the manufacturing of PV products and advanced silicon-based materials. There will also be several PV power plants. Regarding PV products, the newly added production capacity will encompass all of the main sections of the supply chain including polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules. Hoshine estimates that the first-phase facilities will employ around 17,000 workers.
Hoshine is currently one of the leading suppliers for metal silicon (a.k.a. industrial silicon) and organic silicon (a.k.a. silicone or polysiloxane). This latest investment in the field of PV, together with other proposed projects related to metal and organic silicon materials, are expected to significantly expand its portfolio and manufacturing scale. Going forward, Hoshine will maintain its leadership in the industry while providing an even more comprehensive range of products.
The Chinese government has long regarded the silicon material sector as a key strategic industry. Hoshine’s new facilities in Urumqi will form a locally based integrated PV industry chain that connects together the upstream (i.e., polysilicon and wafers), the midstream (i.e., cells and modules), and the downstream (i.e., PV systems and power plants). Hence, a new industry ecosystem for “green circular economy” will emerge in the Ganquanbao Economic and Technological Development Zone and contribute to the national (as well as regional) goals of capping CO2 emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. Furthermore, Hoshine’s new facilities will assist the regional authority in improving their energy mix and industry makeup, thereby resulting in higher-quality economic development. All in all, this capacity expansion project is of great importance for the region.
Information provided by Chinese media outlets reveals that Hoshine’s current operating production capacity comprises 800,000MT/y of metal silicon and 980,000MT/y of organic silicon. The company have an additional 400,000MT/y of metal silicon and 1.2 million MT/y of organic silicon set up and ready for activation. As for the production capacity that is in development, the company plans to take on another 800,000MT/y of metal silicon and 1.2 million of organic silicon in the future. The latest project in the Ganquanbao Economic and Technological Development Zone will expand the company’s polysilicon production capacity by about 200,000MT/y. By 2024, Hoshine could become the largest polysilicon supplier.
The latest capacity expansion project seems to be a counter-intuitive decision because Hoshine is on the Entity List of the US government and thus prevented from exporting its products into the US. It is worth noting that the import ban of the US government covers other companies’ products that contain Hoshine’s silicon materials. Hoshine has been steadfastly refuting the charges levied by the US government regarding the treatment of its workers. On other hand, the company has been performing extremely well this year. According to Reuters, Hoshine’s net profit registered a YoY growth rate of 875.7% for this third quarter.