Korean chemical firm OCI Holdings has reportedly paused public listing plans for its Malaysian polysilicon business amid global stock market uncertainty.
OCI Holdings still plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) but has slowed the process for the time being, according to a Bloomberg report published yesterday.
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Sources familiar with the matter said that global stock market turmoil brought about by US tariffs on imported goods pushed OCI management to postpone its IPO. Previous reports said that a listing could raise up to US$320 million for the Malaysian polysilicon business.
The polysilicon market is currently massively oversupplied, which has pushed the price of solar-grade polysilicon down drastically over the last two years. All of the leading Chinese polysilicon producers posted financial losses in the first half of 2024 and have announced broad production cuts.
In a LinkedIn post earlier this month, polysilicon market analyst Bernreuter Research said that the production cuts were “unlikely” to result in a significant rise in polysilicon prices in the coming months.
The post said: “New polysilicon production capacities in China are slated to come on stream in the second quarter. That is making a significant – if any – rise of the polysilicon price more and more unlikely in the coming weeks and months.”
Non-Chinese polysilicon is generally more expensive than Chinese product, but the massive oversupply in the industry has still pushed prices down and squeezed manufacturers’ margins.
OCI Holdings signed a supply deal in January with fellow Korean-owned firm Hanwha Qcells to supply polysilicon from its Malaysian base to Qcells’ planned US silicon wafer and cell manufacturing plant.
This deal followed Qcells’ abandonment of a previous supply deal with Norway-headquartered REC Silicon for polysilicon produced at its US facility in Moses Lake, Washington. Hanwha is also a shareholder in REC Silicon.
The end of this deal resulted in the abandonment of polysilicon production at Moses Lake. PV Tech Premium analysed the reaction to the situation earlier this year.
