Chinese wafer maker Shunda raises US$82m for poly-silicon production plant
Sherman So — South China Morning Post, May 10, 2007 /News from LexisNexis
Source:Semiconductor international
http://www.reed-electronics.com/semiconductor/articleXml/LN610466257.html
Shunda Holdings, a Chinese mono-crystalline silicon ingot and wafer maker, raised US$82 million from private equity investors to build a new production facility. Actis, a private equity investor in emerging markets with US$3.4 billion under management, invested US$40 million in the deal. The rest was raised through local investors Jolmo and Waichun, Actis said.
Shunda’s products are used to make solar cells and modules. It is a supplier of Suntech Power Holdings, the mainland’s largest solar cell manufacturer listed in Nasdaq. The investment would be used to construct a 1,500 tonne per annum poly-silicon manufacturing facility, Actis said. “Shunda is a major player in the solar industry. We believe the backward integration into poly-silicon will enable Shunda to enjoy higher margins,” said Benjamin Cheng, an investment principal at Actis.
Mainland solar power firms are expanding as demand for alternative energy rises amid high oil prices and increasing government subsidies for clean energies in markets such as Germany and California. But solar-cell makers have been constrained by the scarcity and rising cost of its primary raw material, poly-silicon.
World demand for poly-silicon has outstretched supplies since 2004, and the gap will continue until next year, according to a report by Morgan Stanley analyst Sunil Gupta. Its price would rise 35 per cent this year, much more than the 15 per cent forecast increase in solar wafer prices, he wrote.
A silicon shortage is eating into solar-cell makers’ profit. Suntech’s gross margin fell to 25 per cent last year from 30 per cent in 2005. Actis said its investment would be used to address the current, industry-wide shortage of poly-silicon, an essential raw material for Shunda and the whole photovoltatic market.