Moses Lake, Washington USA -- February 7, 2024: REC Silicon ASA ("REC
Silicon"), announced that its wholly owned subsidiary REC Advanced Silicon
Materials LLC is shutting down its polysilicon production capacity at its
Butte, Montana facility.
The shutdown of the polysilicon business in Butte is primarily necessary due
to the regional structural imbalance in supply and demand for electricity and
is part of REC Silicon's strategy to ensure long-term profitable operations.
Discontinuing the polysilicon production at Butte will significantly reduce
annual energy consumption and operating costs.
The polysilicon business will continue to produce for approximately six to
nine months to fulfill polysilicon supply obligations to the company's
customers. After the supply obligations are satisfied, the company expects
that the workforce in Butte will be reduced accordingly, along with some
others across the company that support the Butte business line. The company is
working out the details with respect to the shutdown and will provide
additional information to impacted stakeholders as it becomes available.
"The decision to shut down the polysilicon business in Butte was very
difficult from a human perspective because of the impact on REC's workforce.
The team in Butte has been resilient and resourceful, making vast improvements
in our offerings and gaining a significant presence with key customers while
balancing a focus on quality and cost. I am grateful for their hard work and
dedication. We did everything in our power to return profitability to the
polysilicon business in Butte, however, forecasts for sustained high
electricity costs that are outside of our control necessitated this decision.
After the transition has been fully executed, we expect an accretive impact to
our earnings. Most importantly, we will have full focus on Butte's globally
leading silicon gases business. We will work towards executing more investment
and product opportunities available due to that leading position as well as
the tailwinds the Chips, IRA and Infrastructure Acts are providing," said Kurt
Levens, CEO.
The short and mid-term increased electricity pricing in the region is not
expected to abate and will not allow for profitable operations in the
polysilicon business line. The company took short-term mitigative measures
that included electricity hedging, optimized production, and increased sales
prices. These efforts minimized the losses in the short-term, however, the
decision taken is primarily about the mid to long-term viability of a very
power-intensive polysilicon process located in a high electricity cost region,
particularly relative to alternative manufacturers and regions. In keeping
with our long relationships and significant continuing presence in the
Semiconductor materials supply chain, REC Silicon will execute the shutdown in
a manner that balances the best interests of all stakeholders and previous
commitments.
Contacts
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Jack Yun
CFO, REC Silicon
jack.yun@recsilicon.com
Nils O. Kjerstad
IR Contact
Phone: +47 9135 6659
Email: nils.kjerstad@recsilicon.com
About Us
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REC Silicon is a leading producer of advanced silicon materials, delivering
high-purity polysilicon and silicon gas to the solar and electronics
industries worldwide. We combine over 30 years of experience and proprietary
technology with the needs of our customers, with annual production capacity of
more than 20,000 MT of polysilicon from our two US-based manufacturing plants.
Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: RECSI), the Company is
headquartered in Lysaker, Norway.
For more information, go to: www.recsilicon.com
This information is subject to disclosure under the Norwegian Securities
Trading Act, ยง5-12. The information was submitted for publication at
2024-02-07 11:08 CET.