Daqo New Energy reaches full production at Xinjiang factory

Chinese polysilicon maker Daqo New Energy Corp (NYSE:DQ) said today it has launched production at full capacity at its Phase 3B polysilicon manufacturing facility in Shihezi, Xinjiang.

The milestone was reached earlier than planned, increasing the company's total production capacity to 30,000 tonnes from 18,000 tonnes.

As part of a power purchase agreement with a local utility, Daqo New Energy said its electricity rates will be lowered by 18%. Including those savings, plus economies of scale, the Chinese firm expects the total cost of polysilicon production at its Xinjiang facilities to fall to some USD 7.50 (EUR 6.58) per kg in the first quarter of next year.

Daqo New Energy is meanwhile progressing work on its Phase 3B debottlenecking project, which will lift its annual production capacity of 35,000 tonnes by end-June 2019, as well as the Phase 4A capacity expansion project. The latter will boost its manufacturing capacity to 70,000 tonnes, while the overall polysilicon production costs are expected to drop to USD 6.80 per kg. The ramp up to full production is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.877)

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