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Is this the golden age of starting materials? |
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Jul 07, 2006 at 01:44 PM |
Recent news on the wafer and polysilicon fronts presents further evidence that we might be living in the golden age of starting materials.
The polysilicon supply remains tight, thanks in large part to the prodigious growth in the photovoltaic (PV) solar cell market. As the 300-mm chip-manufacturing sector expands, wafermakers can barely keep up with demand from their IDM and foundry customers. Wafer-materials innovations such as strained silicon have played a major role in improving transistor performance. Silicon-on-insulator has caught on in a big way, with some companies running SOI on nearly all of their product lines.
This week MEMC switched gears and abandoned its deal with solar-cell player Motec of Taiwan, choosing to get in bed with Suntech Power of China instead. Although the deal's not done, MEMC stands to generate up to $6 billion in revenues over the next decade through the Suntech agreement, with a clause that will allow the company to expand its poly manufacturing capacity forthwith.
Wacker announced last week that it is adding more poly capacity at its Burghausen site. Once completed and running at full bore by the end of 2009, capacity will be 14,500 metric tons. This will be a nearly 300% increase from the German materials company's current 5500 metric tons mark, and another big step up from the 10,000 metric tons the company will achieve when an earlier expansion phase is completed by early 2008.
Soitec's ambitious production and R&D expansion plans, both in France and in a new Singapore plant, will allow the SOI leader to keep pace with torrid demand for their engineered substrates. The recent acquisition of TraciT Technologies adds to Soitec's already deep IP portfolio and will allow it to expand into other industries and applications. A little French government help doesn't hurt Soitec either, as its partnership with LETI in the NanoSmart project will mean access to some of the most advanced R&D activities exploring advanced and next-generation substrates.
It's definitely a good time to be in the wafer and poly biz!
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