Manufacturer Tongwei ranked first in the polysilicon manufacturing ranking in 2022. The company produced 160 thousand metric tons of the input last year.
The survey was released by Bernreuter Research, a company specializing in polysilicon market research. According to the study, in second place in the ranking is GCL Technology, followed by Daqo New Energy.
According to Bernreuter Research, Tongwei last year produced 1,6 times more polysilicon for solar cell production than GCL Technology and more than twice as much as Daqo New Energy.
“It is remarkable how quickly Tongwei increases process efficiency and upgrades existing equipment,” comments Johannes Bernreuter, head of Bernreuter Research.
While the top three positions in the ranking remained unchanged compared to 2021, Xinte Energy passed the German company Wacker Chemie and rose from fourth to fifth place in the ranking.
Another manufacturer that stood out was Asia Silicon, located in China, which expanded its capacity from 22 thousand metric tons to 92 thousand metric tons, rising from eighth to sixth position in the ranking.
“Like Wacker, the company benefited from the poor performance of East Hope, which had to close part of its factory in the Xinjiang region of northwest China for several months after the start of a fire in June. Consequently, East Hope fell from sixth to seventh place,” states Bernreuter Research.
China has 89% of global polysilicon production
China reached an 89% share in the global production of polysilicon for photovoltaic systems in 2022, according to an analysis carried out by the consultancy.
According to the study, the six largest Chinese manufacturers have the capacity to add approximately 1,5 million metric tons to the pipeline for 2023 and 2024.
Additionally, Bernreuter Research points out that more than a dozen new entrants are building or expanding new polysilicon factories in China.
It is estimated that over the long term, China will have a total production capacity of nearly 7 million metric tons, which would be equivalent to an annual solar module capacity of approximately 3.500 GW.
Check out the top ten polycrystalline silicon manufacturers of 2022:
- Tongwei Co., Ltd. (China)
- GCL Technology Holdings Ltd. (China)
- Daqo New Energy Corp. (China)
- Xinte Energy Co., Ltd. (China)
- Wacker Chemie AG (Germany/USA)
- Asia Silicon (Qinghai) Co., Ltd. (China)
- Xinjiang East Hope New Energy Co., Ltd. (China)
- OCI Company Ltd. (South Korea/Malaysia)
- Hemlock Semiconductor Operations LLC (USA)
- Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tianhong REC Silicon Mat. Co., Ltd. (China)
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