Hemlock Semiconductor (Hemlock, Michigan, US) has announced that it will temporarily lay off roughly 400 employees at facilities in the US states of Michigan and Tennessee in coming weeks, which is expected to delay start-up of production at the facility in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The actions will affect approximately 300 employees in Tennessee and 100 in Michigan. The company cites industry-wide oversupply of polysilicon and the threat of Chinese tariffs, and says that if conditions persist these layoffs could become permanent.

"This is a difficult but necessary decision to enable Hemlock Semiconductor to navigate the volatility in the polysilicon and solar industries," said Hemlock Semiconductor President Andrew Tometich.

"The unresolved trade disputes among the US, China and Europe are a major factor in Hemlock Semiconductor's actions as the threat of tariffs on US polysilicon imported into China has significantly decreased orders from China, which is home to one of the largest markets for our products."

Timing of Tennessee facility start-up uncertain

Hemlock states that its Michigan site will reduce production to align with current demand, and that its Tennessee facility will maintain a minimum workforce focused on safely maintaining the site for eventual production.

The company says that the timing of start-up at the  facility in Clarksville, Tennessee will depend upon a number of factors, including polysilicon demand and the resolution of trade disputes.

Polysilicon producers reducing US production

Hemlock's announcement on January 14th, 2013 comes four days after Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (Sandvika, Norway) announced that it would reduce production and staffing levels at its polysilicon plant in the US state of Washington.

Polysilicon prices collapsed over the course of 2012, and TrendForce has predicted that the Chinese government will soon impose tariffs of 30-50% on US polysilicon.

Hemlock Semiconductor is a joint venture of Dow Corning Corporation (Midland, Michigan, US), ShinEtsu Handotai Company Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (Tokyo, Japan).

2013-01-16 | Courtesy: Hemlock Semiconductor | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

Our editorial selection of breaking solar news is published at:
www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/top-solar-news.html