Polysilicon Plants and Supply Chain

producers · US plants · tariffs

Polysilicon is the narrowest stage of the solar supply chain. China makes more than nine-tenths of it, and the rest of the world has three producers of scale.

Top: share of global polysilicon output in 2024 - China 93.5%, rest of world 6.5%. Below: producer ranking by output. In China: first Tongwei, second GCL Technology, third Daqo New Energy, fourth Xinte Energy, fifth Qinghai Lihao; the other top-ten producers are also Chinese. Outside China: eighth Wacker (Germany and US), 14th Hemlock (US), 16th OCI (Malaysia). SHARE OF GLOBAL POLYSILICON OUTPUT China 93.5% Rest of world 6.5% PRODUCER RANKING BY OUTPUT ChinaOutside China 1 Tongwei 2 GCL Technology 3 Daqo New Energy 4 Xinte Energy 5 Qinghai Lihao 8 Wacker (Germany, US) 14 Hemlock (US) 16 OCI (Malaysia) The other top-ten producersare also Chinese.
China share of output, 2024
93.5%
Top four share
65%
US tariff on Chinese poly
50% (Section 301)
Only non-Chinese top-10 maker
Wacker
Hub
Energy

Finding

China makes 93.5% of the world's polysilicon, and its overbuilt industry is now buying out and retiring its own capacity

Chinese producers made 93.5% of global polysilicon in 2024, and nine of the top ten producers were Chinese; Tongwei, GCL Technology, Daqo and Xinte alone held 65%. Capacity ran far ahead of demand, prices fell below cash cost, and in December 2025 ten producers formed a joint inventory platform in Beijing to buy and retire surplus capacity.

The overbuild is the result of cheap power and cheap capital. Plants in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai run on coal or hydropower at a fraction of US and European industrial rates, which matters for a product that takes about 40 to 60 kWh per kilogram (see Polysilicon Production: Siemens and FBR). Prices rose about 50% from the third quarter of 2025 as the consolidation talks progressed, to roughly RMB 50,000 per ton.

Outside China, Wacker (Burghausen and Nünchritz in Germany, Charleston in Tennessee), Hemlock Semiconductor (Michigan) and OCI TerraSolar (Sarawak, Malaysia) carry most non-Chinese supply, much of it electronic grade or sold to buyers that need traceable, non-Xinjiang material. US policy pushes buyers toward them: polysilicon from the Xinjiang sites of Hoshine, Daqo, GCL and East Hope is barred under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, Section 301 tariffs on Chinese polysilicon and wafers rose to 50% in January 2025, and a Section 232 investigation into polysilicon imports opened in July 2025.

The US constraint is not polysilicon alone but the stages that use it. Ingot and wafer capacity is the thinnest link: Qcells in Cartersville, Georgia is building the first large US ingot-to-module line, and new cell plants such as T1 Energy G2 Austin still depend on imported wafers.

Producers

Worldwide polysilicon producers

Ranked by 2024 output where known.

Worldwide polysilicon producers
ProducerCountryMain sitesProcessMarkets
Tongwei (Yongxiang)ChinaSichuan (Leshan), Inner Mongolia (Baotou), Yunnan (Baoshan)SiemensSolar; largest producer
GCL TechnologyChinaJiangsu (Xuzhou), Sichuan (Leshan), Inner Mongolia (Baotou), XinjiangFBR granular, some SiemensSolar; largest granular producer
Daqo New EnergyChinaXinjiang (Shihezi), Inner Mongolia (Baotou)SiemensSolar; Xinjiang output barred from the US
Xinte Energy (TBEA)ChinaXinjiang, Inner MongoliaSiemensSolar
Qinghai LihaoChinaQinghai (Xining)SiemensSolar
East HopeChinaXinjiang, Inner MongoliaSiemensSolar; Xinjiang output barred from the US
Asia SiliconChinaQinghai (Xining)SiemensSolar
Hongyuan EnergyChinaInner Mongolia (Baotou)SiemensSolar; ninth in 2024
Wacker ChemieGermanyBurghausen and Nünchritz (Germany); Charleston, Tennessee (US)SiemensElectronic and solar; eighth in 2024
Hemlock SemiconductorUSHemlock, MichiganSiemensElectronic and solar; majority-owned by Corning
OCI TerraSolarMalaysia (Korean-owned)SarawakSiemensSolar; traceable non-China supply
TokuyamaJapanShunan, YamaguchiSiemensElectronic grade

US plants

US polysilicon plants

US polysilicon plants
PlantLocationOutputStatus
Hemlock SemiconductorHemlock, MichiganElectronic and solar gradeOperating; largest US producer
Wacker Polysilicon North AmericaCharleston, TennesseeSolar and electronic gradeOperating
REC SiliconMoses Lake, WashingtonFBR granular polysiliconHalted in 2025 after a brief restart; now Hanwha-owned
REC SiliconButte, MontanaSilane gas and electronic-grade polysiliconOperating

Constraints

Supply chain constraints

Polysilicon supply chain constraints
ConstraintEffectWho it favors
Power priceElectricity is the largest cash costPlants on cheap coal or hydropower in western China
OvercapacityChinese capacity far exceeds demand; prices fell below cash cost before the 2025 consolidationThe largest, lowest-cost producers
Forced labor rulesUFLPA blocks Xinjiang-linked polysilicon at the US border; the EU forced labor regulation applies from December 2027Wacker, Hemlock, OCI and non-Xinjiang Chinese plants
TariffsSection 301 at 50% on Chinese polysilicon and wafers; Section 232 investigation opened July 2025US and allied producers
QualificationIngot makers qualify each polysilicon source for yield before switchingIncumbent suppliers
Downstream gapsUS wafer and ingot capacity is far smaller than module capacityIntegrated producers such as Qcells

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Polysilicon Plants and the PV Supply Chain
Sources
Bernreuter Research (2024 producer ranking); PV Tech (December 2025 inventory platform); USTR Section 301; US Commerce Section 232; DHS UFLPA Entity List
Updated
October 2026